Making It Through
by Lil Badger 101
Summary: "Why is this happening?" Greg asked his voice going shaky again "what did we do wrong?" he really wanted to know, he felt like they were being punished for some terrible sin he wasn't aware they'd committed... The team battle through their worst case yet as some of their own get kidnapped, trotured and face a hellish fight to just stay alive... So...much...angst!
1. Prologue: A Torturous Affair

**A/N: Hey people! Happy New Year :D For a special treat (or not maybe you'll hate it :P) I have decided to post a sneak preview of my new multi-chapter story! Lots of Greg Whump, Lots of protective Nick with a helpful lump of torture and chaos as well as a sprinkling of the rest of the awesome CSI team! Goodness knows how long this will be but I've already written like 8 chapters, anything could happen! ;) Anyway I was in an angsty mood, hence the angsty introduction piece :P let me know if it's too much XD Hope you like! :) Set early in season 1.**

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**Prologue: A Torturous Affair **

"Greg!" Nick cried as the two massive dunderheads the sick bastard called his _assistants _had to try and restrain him. The Texan fought and fought against their iron grips, he wouldn't ever give up, not ever, he didn't care what happened to him he just had to protect his friend and he would do anything.

"Nick!" the young lab tech called back with tears streaming down his face "Help me! Oh God please help!" he cried as he thrashed around in the metal bindings that were chaining him to the wall, back facing his manic torturer. The metal cut like blades into the young man's skin but he didn't care, he had to escape he knew he wouldn't be able to take what was coming, he just wouldn't.

"Greg everything will be alright" Nick tried to calm him just a little "I'm coming to help you I promise!" he kicked at the men, bit them, they started to bleed a little but still they wouldn't let go. _Probably because they're not human _Nick thought with sarcastic bitterness.

Greg wanted to believe Nick, he wanted to hold out. He just wished he could be as strong as the Texan, he just wished he wouldn't be such a wimp. He could speak no longer as for Nick all the Texan could hear coming from the young man was heart wrenching sobs as still both friends tried to escape. Greg was shaking so badly he hoped that he might just pass out, then maybe he wouldn't feel anything, _yeah right _he thought bitterly.

He remembered back to when he was twelve and how he had fallen out the window…the fire…it had burned…but he knew this was going to burn a whole lot worse. Fresh new scars to add to his collection, scars that would make sure that he would never forget. The young lab tech had never been so scared in his life.

"I'll kill you!" Nick yelled at the man who was slowly approaching Greg's relentlessly shaking back. The CSI had never been so angry in his life…he'd never been so truthful in his words either and it kind of scared him; there was so much venom in them. "I swear to God I will kill you with my own hands, I will watch as what little soul you have leaves your eyes, I will make your last breath agonisingly painful and I will enjoy it!"

"Your words are useless" the man said inspecting his weapon and holding it up to the light, he wasn't fazed by the threats at all. He smiled "It's been a long time" he said stroking the murderous thing in his hands.

"Please!" Nick yelled as his own tears began to flow and his anger seemed to subside a little as the reality of the situation hit him "Please I'm begging you use me instead, I'm begging you!" he couldn't watch the sick bastard do this to his friend, his little 24 year old brother who he still considered a kid. Nick would never forgive himself for not being able to save him, and he didn't want Greg to forgive him.

"N-n-no" a shaky voice spoke, not the person Nick was inspecting "N-no Nick… I won-won't let him hu-hurt you. I owe y-ou s-so much." Greg said looking at the floor, he'd given up struggling and accepted his cruel and twisted fate.

"Aww how noble of you" the man said as he appeared by the petrified lab rat's side and whispered in his ear "Shame really, I always felt a special connection between us" he kissed the young lab tech lightly on the neck before turning away. Greg closed his eyes and bit his lip as tears continued to escape. "Your pleading is useless. I have always been complimented for my art, and now I see the art of torture is something that greatly interests me..." he said with a sadistic smirk, and loud enough so Nick could hear. "I am a perfectionist and I will have my perfect revenge on you CSI scum!" he yelled. By this point Greg had started to whisper prayers to himself; the man heard him and laughed. "No God can save you now… "He chuckled pleased at how scared the pathetic kid was.

"No!" Nick yelled again as he watched in utter furry and fear and the man prepared to strike "Please no!"

Greg cried Nick's name. The Texan gasped as a horrifying crack ran through the air, it made him feel sick. The whip had made contact with the lab tech's bare and vulnerable back.

Greg Screamed.

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**Sooo…hehe erm…was it alright or a bit much or just plain crap? Do I continue? Please let me know what you thought :) Reviews = Quick updates! **

**Please let me know I'm so nervous XD**

**Lil Bader 101 xx **


	2. Chapter 1: His Crime and Their Crime

**A/N: Oh. My. GOD. XD You guys know I love you right? Like you've made this the best start to the year ever? 9 freakin' reviews! :D sooo happy! And as I promised reviews = quick updates! So anyways, I'm really sorry this chapter is so boring in comparison to the last but every story needs a set up right or it won't make sense? So you'll just have to stick with the banter in this one :P More exciting angsty stuff next chapter I promise! **

**Also the reason I set this in season 1 is because threefold. Firstly, this is when they were all at their youngest (especially Greg) and therefore I feel they seem more vulnerable as a group. Secondly, I didn't want to do it earlier than season 1 because I wanted Sara to be in it, and thirdly, obviously with Sara just joining and Greg being a lab tech I feel a can play around a lot with the relationship developments with the team. So yeah, that's my defence :P**

**Reviews make magic things happen and the amount of angst in later chapters expand :)**

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**Chapter 1: His Crime and Their Crime **

Gil Grissom walked through the corridors of the Las Vegas crime lab reading through the cases that he needed to hand out for the night. They consisted of a triple homicide in Henderson and a robbery at a casino on the strip. Grissom met the rest of the team in the break room where the usual thing of chatting and coffee drinking was taking place.

"Evening Guys" was the way Grissom announced his arrival as usual, but then did a double take when he counted an extra person in the room. "Greg, what are you doing here?"

The young lab rat was sat on the counter top swinging his legs and smiling his goofy grin. "Hey Sir, I just wanted to see what I might be dealing with today. I'm not in the way am I?" he said fluttering his eyelashes trying to appear innocent.

"Erm…no I guess not" Grissom said still seeming a little confused, Greg beamed. Grissom turned to the rest of the team then and shook his head as he tried to regain focus. "Yes, right, Nick and Warrick you're with me at a triple homicide" he informed them handing them each a sheet "Catherine and Sara, robbery at Caesars Palace" he handed them sheets too.

"Oh so we got a boys versus girls thing going on tonight" Warrick said with a smirk at Catherine and Sara who both raised an eyebrow at him.

"Firstly, we'd never humiliate you like that because you know that we'd solve ours first, no contest" Catherine said confidently.

"Secondly, robberies are pretty simple and there's no blood, no dead bodies to gross you out and we won't smell of death afterwards" Sara pointed out and she and Catherine gave each other a small high five in triumph.

"Yeah...well…whatever" Warrick sulked folding his arms.

"No offence Warrick but Catherine and Sara could beat you with their hands tied behind their backs." Greg but in "they have women's intuition on their side." Sara gave him an appreciative smile and Greg ducked his head trying not to blush from embarrassment.

"Don't you have some saliva to be sniffing kid?" Warrick said now in an obviously bad mood, and Nick chuckled. Greg's face fell slightly but then he laughed when Sara tapped Warrick around the back of his head with her hand in the lab tech's defence.

"See you later boys" Catherine said pinching Warrick on the cheek as she walked by and Sara let out a laugh as Warrick batted Catherine's hand away.

"You could have backed me up man" Warrick said turning on Nick as soon as the women had left, Nick just shrugged and Warrick rolled his eyes as he could see Nick was trying really hard not to laugh.

"I was taught to always try and avoid dangerous situations and making fun of Catherine and Sara, is definitely entering a dangerous territory" Nick said rather matter of factually.

"You're Texan though?" Gre pointed out as if it would make a difference "I thought that would mean you'd been trained to fight since you were six"

Nick laughed "not all Texans are like that Greggo!" Greg was just pleased he hadn't offended his older friend as that wasn't the intention.

"Guys, in case you've forgotten we have three murders to solve and Greg I'm sure there are a lot of people waiting for evidence." Grissom said rather impatiently.

"Yes boss!" All three men replied at the same time with a small salute and Warrick and Nick left to gather their equipment, Greg, to his lab. Grissom rolled his eyes, he felt like he ran a lab full of children sometimes.

* * *

The three CSI's turned up at the crime scene to find cop cars already there and various nosey neighbours standing in front of the crime scene tape. The murders had taken place inside a huge house; it may be even classed as a mansion.

"Our three victims are Eric Dawson the dad, Emma Dawson the daughter and Craig Dawson the son" Captain Brass explained to the CSI's as they walked into the house.

"Is there a Missus Dawson?" Grissom asked but Brass shook his head.

"Neighbours have been saying she went out of the picture about ten years ago, Emma's now sixteen and Craig is eighteen. Dad Eric is forty two"

"Ok thanks Jim" Grissom said and he turned to Nick and Warrick. "Nick you take the son upstairs in the bathroom, Warrick the dad in his study and I'll take the daughter." Warrick and Nick nodded in understanding and went to their separate locations.

"Hey Doc" Warrick said as he entered Eric Dawson's study to find Doctor Robins looking over the body of the dead man. Dawson was sat as his desk, laid back in his chair with blood splattered all across the wall behind him. "What can you tell me?"

"Well, Mister Dawson here seems too have been shot at point blank, right in the middle of the forehead, it was a through and through" Robins explained. Warrick went and stood in the middle of the room and raised his hand pointing it like a gun.

"Seems consistent with the blood spatter" he confirmed and put his case down before pulling on some gloves. "Windows open and smashed " Warrick said now thinking aloud and leaning out the window "seems big enough for someone to climb in through and the curtains are floor length, maybe our killer was hiding behind them until Eric Dawson sat down" Warrick theorised as he started to dust the window frame for prints.

In the daughter's room Grissom found Emma's head sticking out from underneath the bed, she'd obviously tried to hide from the attackers. He had to assume there was more than one attacker because surely if there was only one, one of the Dawson's would have been able to escape and alert the police. There was a shattered vase next to her head which Grissom photographed and took pieces of to be processed. Doc Robins arrived to determine the cause of death and started to pull the girl from out under the bed whilst Grissom walked around the room.

"Cause of death is brain haemorrhage due to blunt force trauma" Doc Robins confirmed.

"Yes I found the pieces of a smashed vase next to her, probably what she was hit with." Grissom knelt down and looked under a dresser "Hey doc, she got any bullet wounds?"

"No, but our dad does downstairs" Robins informed him as Grissom pulled a gun out from under the dresser.

"Could be the murder weapon for Eric Dawson" Grissom said "but how did it end up under the dresser?"

"Maybe the daughter fought back and knocked it out the guy's hand?" Robins suggested, he picked up one of the girls hands and looked at it with a torch "Here, I believe we've got some skin epitheliums underneath her finger nails, could be the attackers, I'll take a sample back at the lab and get it to Greg"

"Ok thanks Doc" Grissom said as he put the gun he had found into a labelled bag.

Meanwhile in the bathroom Nick entered to find David knelt over the son, Craig. The kid was only wearing his boxers and his clothes were on the floor, he must have just been getting in the shower. The floor was absolutely covered in Craig's blood and Nick could already blatantly see the cause of death.

"What you got Super Dave?" Nick asked anyway.

"Multiple stab wounds to the abdomen and torso" David told him solemnly "Six in totals, he bled out"

Nick photographed the body and then waited for David to have the boy removed from the room. The CSI opened the shower curtain and looked inside the bath with his torch, there was a hair near the plughole which he picked up with a pair of tweezers, it was black but Craig had blond hair. He noticed a scuff mark on the side of the bath too; it looked like rubber that had come off someone's boot, but Craig hadn't been wearing shoes_. The attacker was waiting behind the shower curtain for him_ Nick realised.

The three CSI's worked for a couple more hours before they finally finished processing the rooms and decided to head back to the lab to process the evidence.

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"Nick, drop these off with Greg will you and Warrick take the gun to Bobby, then meet me at the light table so we can round up what we know so far" Grissom instructed and the younger CSI's nodded and went off into the different labs.

Nick entered the DNA lab to find the over excitable Greg Sanders sat tapping his hands on the desk as he waited for some results to be printed off. As usual he had his CD player turned onto his favourite Rock and Roll station and he obviously thought he could play the drums.

"Hey Sanders!" Nick called but Greg didn't hear him over the obscenely loud music. Nick rolled his eyes and pressed the power off button on the CD player much to Greg's displeasure as he spun round in his chair and glared at Nick.

"Hey that was just coming up to a totally awesome guitar solo" Greg said with a slight pout but then his eyes lit up in joy at the stuff Nick had in his hands for him to process.

"Oh yeah well now I have some _totally awesome_ stuff for you to work on" Nick said a little patronizingly, but he was just teasing really.

"What you got Stokes?" Greg said getting up and taking the bags off Nick.

"Triple Homicide, Skin epitheliums we found underneath one of our victims finger nails and a hair I found in the bathroom which didn't match the hair colour of any of our victims"

"Cool I'll get the results to you ASAP" Greg said sitting back down on his chair and rolling over to the microscope. "Oh and Nick!" he called not looking up from the microscope "Music. On. Now." He said pointing to the CD player. Nick gave a slight chuckle before pressing the on button and the sound of screeching guitars pounded against the walls once more.

"That kid is not right in the head" Nick said as he entered the light room, Grissom and Warrick had laid out all the crime scene photos on the table.

"He's one of a kind alright" Warrick said with a smile, he knew exactly who Nick was talking about.

"Ok let's report what we've got so far" Grissom said trying to steer the conversation back to the case. "Warrick you start"

"Ok, Eric Dawson's attacker entered via the window of his study. The suspect smashed the glass with his fist and then opened the window from the inside. He climbs in and hides behind the curtains, waiting for Eric. Eric finally shows up and sits down at his desk, the attacker jumps out from behind the curtain and shoots Eric at point blank range, he's dead instantly. I recovered the bullet from the wall and it matched the gun Grissom found in Emma's room, however the gun is not registered to anyone on the database"

"Ok good, Nick what can you tell us about Craig?" Grissom asked.

"Craig Dawson was getting ready to get into the shower in the upstairs bathroom. His attacker was hiding behind the drawn shower curtain; I found a hair and partial shoeprint in the bath, neither belonging to Craig. The attacker jumped out from behind the shower curtain and stabbed Craig six times in the chest area, I didn't find the knife used. The window to the bathroom was also open and I saw there was a pipe running up the side of the house. I think Craig's attacker climbed up it and got in through the bathroom window"

"Ok so that leaves Emma" Grissom started "Hearing her dad and brother being attacked she runs to her bedroom and tries to hide under the bed but gets caught by the guy who attacked her dad. He goes to shoot her but she knocks the gun out of his hand scratching him. She struggles and tries to stay under the bed but the guy loses his patience and hits her over the head with a vase that just happens to be nearby"

"Well, this family seemed to be very wealthy, Mister Dawson owned his own Lawyer company, wealthy families always have a lot of enemies" Nick pointed out.

"And what about the Mom?" Warrick pondered "she's been gone for ten years, what if she wanted some kind of revenge and ordered an attack?"

Just then all three of them saw Greg dash passed the room but then he skidded to a halt and doubled back on himself so he ended up in the door way "Oh there you are" he beamed "I thought you might be in the break room, actually I was kind of hoping you were because I really need a coffee… "

"Greg!" Grissom interrupted "You're doing it again" he said calmly, the kid was rambling on just like he always did. Grissom did like the kid it's just it could get very annoying sometimes when they were in the middle of a case.

"Sorry" Greg mumbled more than slightly embarrassed, he hated how nervous he got around Grissom, he just really wanted to impress him and do his best "the hair that Nick found came back to an unknown male not in the databases." He said handing the piece of paper over to Grissom "but the skin cells came back to Marshall Rodriguez, I found him in CODIS, he's got priors for robbing a liquor store and mugging" Greg handed the other sheet to Grissom.

"Thanks Greg"_ throw the poor kid a bone _Grissom quickly thought "great job" he added with a smile and Greg's face just lit up as he smiled back and gave a little bow before leaving the room.

"Crazy" Nick said shaking his head and Warrick nodded in agreement.

"Ok I want you two to go down to Marshalls residents and talk to him, if he's not there search the house for anything that could connect him to the murder. I'm going to go back to the crime scene and take another look around for the knife that killed Craig"

The younger CSI's nodded and left the room. Grissom stood in the door frame and smiled as he watched Nick and Warrick have their usual argument of who would get to drive, Nick would give Warrick a playful punch in the shoulder and Warrick would get Nick in a headlock and ruffle his hair. Same old boys, same old routine to the day so far.

But sooner or later all routines have to break.


	3. Chapter 2: The First to Go

**A/N: Hai :3 I. Love. You. Guys O_O let's get together and have cake sometime. OMG I can't thank you enough for all the amazing reviews and the amounts of follows and favourites, or even if you're just reading! You've made me a happy little elf! So, SO sorry this update took a few days but my exams are early this week so once I get them out the way we'll be back to quick updates I promise! Anyways the angst steps up a notch this chapter. And by the way, nobody panic, the Greg Whump is coming XD**

**Keep forgetting -_- … disclaimer: I own nothing to do with the CSI franchise. **

**Review, please? They're like little presents :3**

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**Chapter 2: The First to Go **

Nick and Warrick arrived at Marshall Rodriguez's house to find Detective Brass and a couple of his cops already there waiting for them.

"You guys ready?" Brass asked as he got ready to knock on the door and Warrick and Nick nodded. "Marshall Rodriguez LVPD, open up!" Brass called but there was no answer. He tried to open the door and did so with ease, it had no lock. "You two stay here whilst we clear the place" Brass instructed Warrick and Nick and then indicated for the two officers to follow him inside. Warrick and Nick waited patiently outside until Brass gave the all clear a few minutes later.

"I'll take upstairs, you stay down?" Warrick suggested and Nick nodded in agreement.

Nick went into the living room first; the place was an absolute dump. Furniture was turned over, pieces of paper thrown everywhere and there was a smashed mirror on the wall. Someone had definitely destroyed the place in a fit of rage. Nick took a few photographs and found some blood on the smashed mirror which he took a swab of. He noticed the papers on the ground had started to move around in a sudden draft coming from down the hall. The CSI followed the draft and into the kitchen. The room was just as messy as the last and obviously hadn't been cleaned in a while. He realised the draft had been coming from the back door which was wide open.

Nick looked out the door and noticed the gate at the bottom of the dark garden was repeatedly banging shut and then opening again in the wind. _I wonder…_ he thought as he stepped out the house and headed towards the garden gate. He knew he should go back and get a cop to follow him but he was just going to look out onto the street, he wouldn't leave the perimeter…

Nick opened the gate and just seconds later someone pulled him to the left and put a hand over his mouth before the CSI even had chance to call for help. Nick struggled with his attacker and tried to go for his gun but the attacker got there first, ripping it from Nick's holster and digging the barrel in to the back of the CSI's head.

"Now you're going to walk and you're not going to try anything or else I'll shoot you right here, right now" a gruff voice said "nod if you understand me" going wide eyed in fright Nick nodded and his assailant started to nudge him forward.

It was late at night so there was nobody out on the backstreet who could offer Nick any help, he couldn't get to his phone either as it was in his back pocket. As if the man had read his thoughts he reached into Nick's pocket and threw his phone onto the ground. The stranger led the CSI to the top of the street where a large black van was waiting the doors open. _Oh my God _Nick panicked, he started to try and call for help and kicked at the guy but he just got thrown into the back of the van.

"I'm not having that all the way" the stranger snarled and Nick felt a hard force make contact with the back of his head, he fell to the floor of the van and felt his body go limp and white spots started dancing in front of him as his vision blurred. The last thing he saw was the man's evil smile as he slammed the doors shut and left Nick alone in the darkness of his own mind.

Warrick was walking along the upstairs of the house peering in every room. There were only two words he could think of to describe the place, total and dump. He walked into the bathroom and looked around, that's when he spotted a drop of blood in the sink. Warrick pulled out his torch and shone the light down the plughole, more blood. He took a swab and then looked around for a possible source; he spotted a knife handle sticking out the trash can. He took a picture and pulled out the knife, it was covered in blood and seemed a consistent size to the stab wounds that Craig Dawson had died from.

"Grissom?" Warrick called him on his mobile to tell him the news.

"_Yeah go ahead"_ Grissom replied.

"I think I've found the knife that was used to kill Craig Dawson. It was in Rodriguez's bathroom. By the looks he tried to wash some of the blood off in the sink but then did the stupid thing of leaving it in the trash" Warrick explained. "I swear these murderers are getting dumber and dumber"

"_Ok, grab Nick and I'll meet you back at the lab for processing"_ Grissom Instructed.

"Copy that" Warrick said before hanging up the phone.

Suddenly there was a high pitched screech from the street below and Warrick ran to the window to see what was happening. He got there just in time to see a black van leave the street at quite an alarming speed and disappear around the corner. Warrick frowned in deep thought, _who would be going anywhere in a hurry at this hour? _As a CSI it had become his second nature to question _anything_ that seemed suspicious or out of place, relevant to a case or not.

Thinking nothing more of it, Warrick made his way down the stairs "Nick?" He called but there was no answer, he walked around all the rooms but Nick was nowhere to be seen, _he must be outside with the officers already_, Warrick thought…or rather hoped.

"Hey Jim you seen Nicky?" Warrick asked the detective who was waiting outside the front of the house. He still couldn't see the Texan.

"No I thought he was with you?" Brass said raising an eyebrow and Warrick started to get a little worried.

"I'll try calling him" Warrick said and he walked back into the house, Brass following.

"Back door is open" Brass pointed out "maybe he's outside." He went to investigate whilst Warrick continued to call Nick, but there was no response, it would just ring and go to voice mail. "Erm 'Rick…" Brass said quietly. _This doesn't sound good_… Warrick thought as he slowly turned to face the very solemn looking man. "I found this on the street" and with that he held up Nick's cell phone.

"No…" was all Warrick could say as he realised what all this implied "No this can't be happening…" he ran passed Brass, right out the back door and into the street. He looked desperately left and right hoping Nick would appear but he knew there was no such chance. Then something else dawned on him "That van!" he exclaimed as he turned to Brass "I saw a van leave here at high speed about ten minutes ago, I think they might have got Nick"

"Can you give a description?" Brass asked and Warrick gave a weak nod as he was too overwhelmed to speak "Ok give it to me and I'll get people on the lookout right away, they can't have that much of a head start" Warrick sighed and felt tears begin to well in his eyes, he never cried, not ever. But Nick was his best friend, his brother and he was gone…how was he going to break it to the others?

* * *

Catherine and Sara were back at the lab after collecting all the evidence from their case. They sat in the break room drinking coffee whilst they waited for the results.

"Did you seriously not notice the way Greg looked at you when you entered his lab just then?" Catherine asked Sara teasingly, Sara just shook her head "He's like a love struck puppy whenever you're around!" the older woman said with a laugh "I think it's cute that Greg has a little crush" she said with a smile and taking a sip of coffee.

"What? No come on" Sara protested. She was still choosing to plead ignorance. Sure, she'd only been with the team a few months and Sara and the lab rat had clicked instantly, but it didn't mean anything. "Greg's sweet and everything but he's just a friend." Sara said assertively, she cared too much for him as a little brother "I mean I'm a lot older than him for a start!"

"That won't stop our Greggo" Catherine said with a wink and Sara rolled her eyes, although she was pleased to be joking with the older CSI, it seemed they were finally starting to accept each other as friends.

Moments later and Grissom joined them in the room looking rather disgruntled.

"Hey boss" Catherine chimed "What's up?" her old friend looked like one of his spiders had gone missing or something.

"Have you guys seen Nick and Warrick?" Grissom asked sitting down with them "I thought they'd be back for Rodriguez's by now but I can't find them anywhere, I tried to call both of them but Nick wouldn't pick up and Warrick's phone isn't on"

"Sure I've seen Warrick" Sara said and Grissom looked at her to elaborate "He's right behind you" she said with a smile and Grissom sighed and turned to look at Warrick who had just walked through the doorway.

"Guys I need you to listen to me because I'm not sure how to say this…" Warrick said quietly and the three other CSI's gave him their full attention, he seemed really upset about something "Somebodies taken Nick" he said quickly and quietly, wanting to get it over with. However, that didn't make it any less hard to say or less painful for the others to hear.

"What?" Catherine said with a slight laugh, she thought this was one of their stupid tricks. It had to be, it had to… but Warrick looked genuinely broken.

"You're serious?" Sara said thinking in the same mind as Catherine. She felt a horrible sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach when Warrick gave a solemn nod.

"Ok, ok, tell us what happened" Grissom said getting ready to hang on every detail. Warrick told them about how he wasn't sure and he'd only seen a van leave the street which Brass now had people on the lookout for, but even then they couldn't be certain Nick would be in it.

"Oh my God" Catherine said as soon as Warrick had finished explaining. She could hardly believe what she was hearing; she refused to believe it… Not Nicky, her as good as son.

"What do we do?" Sara asked desperately, in the few months she'd known Nick she'd grown rather close to him as he was the only team member other than Grissom willing to accept her from day one.

"Oh, hey guys" They all looked up to see Greg stood in the doorway smiling at them, he'd bought Sara and Catherine their DNA results, but Greg frowned when the CSI's did not smile back. _Have I done something wrong? _He thought but their faces were more upset than angry. "What's wrong?" Greg asked, his face falling too.

"Greg, honey, sit down a moment" Catherine said. She knew that the kid was rather fond of Nick and would undoubtedly be upset when he found out. Greg cautiously made his way to the table and sat down next to Catherine, she put her hand on his.

"Catherine what's going on?" He asked quietly, he could always rely on Catherine to be honest with him "You're kind of scaring me…"

"Greg…Nick has been kidnapped from a crime scene" She saw all the usual happiness leave Greg's eyes as soon as she said this, he looked around the room desperately as if he'd just noticed the Texan was missing for the first time.

"What….is he…" Greg started but stopped himself as he couldn't bear the thought. He really looked up to Nick, he was his big brother and he was always there for Greg…always.

"We don't know" Warrick said and his voice was near breaking point. Sara got up from her chair and went to stand beside him putting an arm around him and rubbing his arm gently.

"We'll find him" she said comfortingly "We'll find him" the more she said it the more she'd believe it.

"Ok, Sara and Catherine I want you two to go to the street where Nick was taken, see if you find anything useful, Warrick I want you to go and collect any CCTV footage from the area that could have caught sight of the van so we can try and get a clear image. I need to go and find Brass and see if we can track down Marshall Rodriguez, I bet he has something to do with this."

"You got it" Catherine said determinedly and she and Sara practically ran from the room as they knew there wasn't a second to be wasted, that second could cost Nick dearly.

"Warrick" Grissom called before the younger CSI was about to leave the room. The tall man stopped and leaned heavily against the door frame, he needed the support as he started to feel sick with guilt and worry. He slowly moved his sad eyes to look at his mentor. "We'll find him" Grissom said certainly "if we act fast, work hard and keep it together, we'll have him back in no time."

Warrick gave his boss a very small smile in appreciation, but he couldn't allow himself to believe his words as he slowly walked down the hall trying to pull himself together.

Back in the room, Grissom looked down at Greg who was still sat trembling as it was clear the horrible news still hadn't sunk it. The poor kid was looking at the wall wide eyed and quivering, he'd never experienced anything like this before so close to home. Grissom sighed; he wished he could say something comforting to the lab rat, but he barely knew the kid and it just wasn't in his nature.

"What can I do?" Greg suddenly asked in a quiet voice. "Please, I want to help" Grissom could see the desperation in the young man's eyes.

"I'm sorry Greg but you know it's against lab policy for you to do anything other than process evidence" Grissom said regrettably and Greg just bowed his head.

"Oh…" he said in upset and feeling totally useless, he stood up and trudged his way back to his lab. Grissom wanted to let the kid help and make him feel better but he knew right now everyone's attention needed to be on Nick. He went to try and track down Brass.

Now in his lab, Greg stood twizzling the dials on his microscope absentmindedly, he wasn't sure if it was the magnifier making the image blurry or the tears in his eyes. How could they just expect him to stand there and process stuff that didn't even matter anymore, he wanted to help. Greg just sniffled to himself as he went back to processing everyone else's evidence; he prayed that Nick would be alright.

_But then again_ Greg thought after a while of trying and failing to work _when had I ever done what I'm told?_


	4. Chapter 3: Don't Question Him

**A/N: Hello my fellow aliens! Finished exams on Tuesday but then got busy with other stuff and trying to perfect this but anyway here you are! Hopefully back to regular updates now :)**

**Please review, it makes the pixies dance with joy :) x**

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**Chapter 3: Don't Question Him **

Nick woke up with a groan, his hand immediately shooting to the back if his head. It was pounding so hard it felt like someone was trying to hammer a nail through it. He didn't know where he was, what time it was, or who he was with. The last thing he remembered was being shoved into the back of a van and then everything went black.

The Texans eyes flickered open and he found himself to be in a dark, grey room, it was almost like a prison cell. Nick never thought he'd find himself on the opposite side of one of those. He jumped to his feet and tried to get to the small window at the other side of the room to take a look outside and see where he was. But he didn't get far as there was a shackle around his right ankle chaining him to the wall, Nick didn't notice it in time and fell to the ground with a thud and a groan.

He crawled back over to the wall he was chained to and sat heavily against it. The CSI continued to rub the back of his head and could feel the sticky blood clumping his hair together, this was not good. He made a quick mental note to try and not fall asleep in case he was concussed.

A minute later and Nick heard locks being undone from the other side of the metal door and the wicked man who had kidnapped him stepped inside.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Nick demanded as confidently as he could, but it came out more quiet than he hoped as his voice betrayed him, he was scared. The guy just walked closer and slapped Nick hard across his left cheek making him his head painfully snap to the side.

"I don't answer to you" the man said in a low voice. Nick could still not see the man's face as he remained in the shadows.

"Y-you won't get a-away with this" Nick stuttered as he scrambled into the wall, part of him hoping to just sink through it, the other part telling him to stop being ridiculous. The man squatted down in front of Nick.

"If you CSIs just learnt not to mess with things that don't need to be messed with there would really be no need for this" The man said taking a switch blade out of his pocket and flicking up the knife.

"No please don't!" Nick cried shying away from the knife and closing his eyes, waiting for the worst. He hating feeling so weak and vulnerable, he'd been brought up better than this, but even the strongest of men fail when a knife is being held to their captured body.

"Now, now don't worry Tex" the man said throwing the knife up in the air, catching it and then twizzling it around in his fingers "I've only just got hold of you! There's plenty still to do, lots of fun to be had" If the man had not being wearing a bandana Nick knew he would be able to see some form of evil smile. "I'll make you a deal, you may ask three questions of which I will answer truthfully because it's only fair, but after each question you receive a cut on the cheek" the man said admiring his knife.

"Oh-okay" Nick stuttered as he started to shake, he supposed it could have been a worse deal and he needed to get as much information out of this guy as possible if it would help him escape. "Where a-are we?"

"An old bunker out in the desert, one that cults usually use for their weird rituals, but I think they make the perfect hideouts" the man said matter of factually before putting the knife on Nick's right cheek and dragging it slowly down in a diagonal direction obviously trying to cause as much pain as possible. Nick squeezed his eyes shut and winced; it was more painful than he thought it was going to be.

"W-who are you?" Nick asked determined to keep going and not let on how weak he was feeling, he needed to show he wouldn't give up that easily.

"My name is Seth Falkner" he replied simply and went to cut Nicks cheek again, Nick hissed in pain as Seth made this cut deeper than the first.

"Why…" was the big question Nick needed to know the answer to "W-why are you do-doing this?"

"Like I said, I hate it when people meddle in my business…" Seth said and Nick thought that's all he was going to get but then he continued "you and two other CSI's were investigating the death of the Dawson's yes?" Nick nodded in fear "Well Eric Dawson was my brother in law" Seth explained with a bitterness in his tone "he married my sister, Craig and Emma's mother, Eric kicked her out after she had an affair and the kids refused to see her, she was miserable and never really picked herself back up off the ground, she eventually committed suicide a week ago".

"So you had them killed in revenge for your sister?" Nick asked before he could stop himself.

"No, that's four questions Tex" Seth said and he planted the blade of the knife right into Nick's cheek and dragged it down his face, Nick screamed, it was by far the deepest and most painful. "I'll leave you to become acquainted with your new room" Seth said standing up "don't worry, we should have company soon" he added and kicked Nick hard in the ribs just for the hell of it before leaving the room and locking the door.

_Company?_ Nick thought, he didn't want to find out what that could mean. He put one hand on his now blood soaked face and the other across his now hurting ribs. _They'll come for me_ he told himself _they'll be out there now doing everything they can to find me. They're the best team around and they care, they won't rest until they find me._ Nick slowly lay down on the floor, trembling and wondering what would become of him.

* * *

Warrick sat in one of the cars just staring out the front window. He still couldn't come to terms with it. He should have done more to make sure Nick was safe, checked on him, anything. The full force of crime never really hits you until you're investigating one concerning one of your own…one of your closest friends. He thought of all the times he'd told scared family members to keep calm as the team searched for a loved one, but when that person was someone he cared about, Warrick realised how meaningless those words really were.

The CSI was broken from his thoughts when he heard someone open the passenger door and sit down beside him; he slowly turned his head to see it was Greg who had a determined expression on his face.

The kid had spent the last ten minutes in his lab trying to get on with his work, but failing miserably. He just couldn't stop thinking about his friend and how alone and scared he must be. Greg had stopped working and started frantically pacing up and down his lab trying to distract himself and think of something, anything other than Nick, but he couldn't. _How could Grissom think I'd be no help?_ He'd thought._ I know I'm not exactly the sharpest tool in the box, but still, Nick's my friend. _

Eventually, Greg couldn't take it anymore and feared he might go insane if he didn't do anything to help. He ripped his lab coat off and ran from the lab hoping to catch up with one of the other CSI's, that's when he'd ran into the parking lot to find Warrick sat in his car, still as a statue.

"Look I know what you're going to say…" Greg started before Warrick could even open his mouth. "…but I don't care if it's too dangerous without proper training, or if Ecklie finds out and I get suspended. I got the DNA tech from Swing shift to cover for me so I can come and help you. I'm not just pacing around in that lab all day feeling useless and not knowing what's going on. Nick is my friend too so I'm coming with you whether you like it or not." Warrick could tell Greg had been thinking up that speech, and plucking up the courage to say it for a while. "So just…"

"Alright" Warrick replied quietly and Greg looked at him in surprise, he'd expected the CSI to protest. Warrick wanted to protest but he knew there would be no point because Greg could be really stubborn sometimes and if Warrick were in Greg's position he'd want to know what was going on too. "Alright, but you do _exactly_ as I tell you" Warrick said sternly and Greg nodded vigorously in understanding before Warrick started the car.

* * *

Back in the lab Grissom had just made a rather horrible phone call to Nick's parents to tell them their son was missing. Unfortunately they were all the way over in Texas and Grissom knew Nick's mother was very ill and couldn't travel so they simply begged Grissom to keep them closely informed and let them know if they could be of any help. Grissom of course agreed and asked them to keep in touch in case the kidnapper tried to ask them for a ransom.

Grissom was just leaving the lab to go and meet Brass back at Marshall Rodriguez's house when the receptionist called him over.

"Somebody left this package for you sir, about ten minutes ago" she said ducking under the desk and coming back up with a small parcel.

"Thanks, who was it who left it?" Grissom asked finding it strange as he was rarely left anything.

"I don't know" she said thinking back "he was kinda creepy though, he had big sunglasses on and a bandana over his mouth so I couldn't see his face…very creepy"

"Indeed" Grissom replied as he studied the box, it was just a plain cube and had no information on it other than the fact is had _To: G. Grissom_ written on the top. He thanked the receptionist again before going back to his office and sitting at his desk. He then cautiously opened the box.

Inside was a tape recorder. Pulling on some gloves Grissom picked up the recorder and pressed play. There was a loud beep before a low voice began to speak.

"_Three meddling CSI's went into a house today, only two made it back. I hope this will teach you to keep your stupid noses out of other people's business and let revenge take its course! Scary isn't it? See I know everything about all of you, yet you know nothing about me. Now the question is who do I get next? Grissom, the oh so mighty leader, knower of everything. Catherine, boy she's hot and intelligent, that's very hard to find. Or maybe Sara? Feistiness is always an attractive point in a woman. Then there's Warrick, very strong, very temperamental and from what I gather not very responsible. And that just leaves itsy-bitsy Greggo, the baby of the bunch. Seems like he could be fun, also the easiest of you to manipulate… hmm this is a difficult one…anyway I'm sure you'll find out my decision soon. _

There was another beep and the tape stopped.

Grissom rewound the tap and listened to it three more times before springing into action. His whole team and he were in danger not to mention Greg had somehow ended up dragged into it. Grissom swore he wouldn't let anything happen to the others, this may be his most challenging case as supervisor but he would look out for his team no matter what. But the cruel words of the man on the tape still rattled the normally calm man to his very core.

He went into the AV lab to find Archie typing away at one of his computers. "Archie, run this tape and see if you can get any voice recognition off it or any background noise that could help us find out where it was recorded" he instructed handing Archie the tape.

"Yes Boss" Archie replied and immediately started work.

Grissom hurriedly left the room and pulling out his phone tried to get hold of the others but they were all too busy working to answer. He knew cops would be with Sara and Catherine anyway and Warrick always took care of himself. He went to Greg's lab to find he wasn't there but instead found the swing shift tech.

"Where's Greg?" the CSI asked.

"He erm, left early, said he was finding it too hard to work after…you know" she said quietly and gave Grissom a small sympathetic smile.

Grissom headed into the fingerprinting lab to see if he could lift any off the recorder. Time was now most definitely of the essence if they were going to get Nick back alive and stop anyone else from being taken.

* * *

Meanwhile back on the street where Nick had been kidnapped Sara and Catherine were searching the area with the closest precision.

Sara was bent down taking moulds and pictures of some tyre tracks that had been left behind and swabbed a few drops of blood she found next to them. She prayed it wouldn't be Nick's but deep down she knew it had to be. She couldn't even begin to imagine how scared Nick must be, it made her feel sick. Nick was one of the sweetest people she knew and he didn't deserve this, nobody did.

Catherine was over by the back gate where Brass had found Nick's phone trying to figure out where the attacker had been hiding. She hated the thought of Nick being so unaware of what was waiting round the corner for him. She loved Nick like her own flesh and blood and had been there for him ever since he came to Vegas. She was determined to get him back and would only stop looking when hell froze over.

"Cath?" Sara's concerned tone brought her back to reality. "We're going to find him…aren't we?" she asked timidly, unusual for the normally opinionated CSI.

Catherine had to admit when she had first met Sara she wasn't particularly fond of her as she just seemed to think she could take over and Sara wasn't keen on Catherine because she found her quite bossy. But over the past few months both women had come to realise that they had to stick together and that they were both just very passionate people.

Catherine was mother hen and she soon took Sara under her wing just like the boys because she knew moving from San Francisco must have been difficult for Sara and she needed support. Just like she needed support now to see that everything would turn out alright.

"Yes" Catherine said with a smile rubbing Sara's arm "Yes we will find him" Sara smiled back in appreciation and the woman continued to work.

* * *

Just around the corner a black van pulled over by the side of the road and the driver watched as a tall, determined looking CSI and a worried little lab rat entered a 24 hour convenience store.


	5. Chapter 4: The Second to Go

**A/N: Oh my God I am so sorry it's taken me so long to update :( College and all of my coursework just keeps getting in the way and I hate it! So I really hope you like this chapter to make up for my absence. I hope you enjoy. **

**Please Review :)**

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**Chapter 4: The Second to Go **

Warrick and Greg pulled up at a small twenty four hour convenience store just around the corner from Marshall Rodriguez's house.

"Let me do the talking, ok?" Warrick said to Greg, who nodded in understanding. Warrick went into the store first and a small bell sounded as he opened the door, the store's owner appeared at the sound of some customers.

"How may I help you two gentlemen?" asked the old looking woman.

"Ma'am we're with the Las Vegas crime lab…" Warrick informed her; Greg admired his professionalism under the circumstances. "We're on the lookout for a black van; do you have any security cameras outside your store that might have captured something on the street?"

"Why yes I do" the woman said seeming happy to help "I'll go and get the tape for you."

"Thank you ma'am" Warrick said with a slight nod and Greg smiled at her, remaining quiet as promised.

Warrick leaned back against the counter whilst they waited and Greg just walked around the store. Every second that passed Warrick grew a little more impatient as he stood tapping his fingers rhythmically on the counter top and Greg eventually came and stood next to him. A van pulled up outside the store but Warrick didn't notice as he was just staring into the distance, his mind elsewhere.

"Warrick!" Came Greg's petrified voice as he began to tug on Warrick's sleeve "That guy who just got out the van, he has a gun!"

Warrick looked at him confused not having a clue what the kid was going on about, until Greg pointed out the window and Warrick saw the big black van, he went wide eyed, that was definitely the van he had seen earlier.

"He's coming this way!" Greg exclaimed as a man dressed head to toe in black, with black sunglasses and a bandana around his face and ridiculously large muscles, started to walk towards the door.

"Get down!" Warrick said pushing Greg behind the counter and drawing his gun "you stay hidden ok, you do not come out until it tell you to" Warrick said looking into Greg's petrified eyes; Greg nodded and then ducked down behind the counter out of sight.

Greg heard the door open and the man wearing heavy boots enter the store. He peered round the edge of the counter and saw Warrick raise his gun to the man and tense a little. Warrick was now potentially stood face to face with his best friend's kidnapper and he admittedly had the urge to pull the trigger, but he knew he couldn't as this guy obviously knew where Nick was.

"Are you Warrick Brown?" The man behind the bandana asked he too making sure Warrick knew he had a gun. Warrick nodded. "Where's the other one?" he demanded.

"Other one?" Warrick said in a mystified tone. "I don't know who you're talking about" he said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Don't play dumb with me!" the guy said, cocking his gun in threat "I saw you come in with that spikey haired kid, where is he!"

Greg shifted nervously from his hiding place as be began to shake. What did he want him for? _Stay calm _he thought to himself _Warrick won't let anything happen to you._ But then again, just how far would Warrick go? Would he die for Greg? The young lab tech didn't want that so he promised himself he wouldn't let anything happen to Warrick either.

"He's not here" Warrick said in a tone which suggested the man should not even try and argue. He too had his gun firmly raised and so the men were stuck in a standoff, a battle of wills. "Now why don't you just tell me…"

"No, you are in no possession to be the one making demands. Now where is the kid?!" The man was yelled, his patience was running out quick, and so was Warrick's.

"You'd have to kill me before I told you" the CSI growled, and that was exactly what Greg was afraid of.

"As appealing as that is, just remember it's not your life on the line here" the man pulled a walkie talkie out from his back pocket and waved it around in front of Warrick "all I have to do is push this button and Nicky goes night, night. Now I ask you again. Where is the kid?"

Warrick did not react, was the guy bluffing? He couldn't let Nick die, but he couldn't let Greg be taken either. The CSI was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Greg remained silently panicked trying to come up with some form of plan to aid his friend, but he was too scared to think straight. _Just give yourself up! _He was telling himself _they're going to kill Nick just go! _The young lab tech had tears slowly slipping down his cheeks as he very shakily started to get to his feet.

Just then the old woman who owned the store returned with the tape. She frowned when she saw Greg crouched down behind the counter but then screamed at the sight of the disguised man with the gun. Without a second thought the man shot the old woman in the chest and Greg fell back down to the floor, clapping both hands over his mouth to stop himself from screaming. The tears began to fall harder as he watched the woman's blood splatter over the wall and her limp body fall right down beside him. Working as a lab tech, Greg had actually never seen a real dead body before, let alone witnessed someone being killed.

"No!" Warrick cried and rushed round to check if the woman was still breathing, she wasn't.

He locked eyes with a petrified Greg for a few moments. He could see Greg trembling uncontrollably and the tears running down his face as he tried hard not to even breathe. Warrick knew he had to get this psychopath away from Greg no matter what the cost, plus the guy knew where Nick was and he wanted to get him back more than anything. But Greg had different plans. He nodded at Warrick steadily and the CSI went wide eyed in horror as he knew exactly what the lab rat was thinking. Greg was going to give himself over. Warrick tried to shake his head discreetly in protest, but the man saw.

"What the hell is going on!" the man commanded as he began to approach Warrick.

_He promised me_, Warrick thought in a panic. _He promised me he'd do whatever I say, and I know Greg wouldn't break a promise_ "Run!" the CSI yelled and Greg immediately bolted from behind the counter.

"Hey!" the masked man cried and unexpectedly fired the gun in Greg's direction shattering the glass as the lab tech ran by the freezers.

Greg covered his head and ran for the door whilst Warrick had pretty much jumped on the man's back trying to get the gun out of his deadly grasp. The man struggled but Warrick put up a good fight finally pushing the man to the ground and kicking the gun away. Greg was gone_. Please be safe_ Warrick thought.

"Get off me!" the man growled, as Warrick tried to remove his mask.

The CSI flipped the guy round onto his back and pulled off the bandana. Warrick looked wide eyed in shock "No freakin' way" he said in a gasp as he looked down at the familiar face before him.

"Oh I didn't get to introduce myself" the man said with a smirk "Nice to see you again Rick" he said. Warrick was too shocked that he didn't see the man raise his arm as he took the Walkie Talkie from his pocket and swung it Warrick's head, knocking the CSI sideways and smashing his against the side of the counter. Warrick went limp.

"_You absolute screw up!"_ a voice came from the Walkie Talkie _"Now I gotta chase after the kid, I told you I don't handle the brats" _

"Oh just shut up and get one with it. If that lab rat escapes then this whole thing falls apart and it won't just be the kid who dies…"

* * *

All Greg heard was 'Run' and his body automatically responded. A surge of adrenaline ran through his body as he darted out in front of the man. He heard the bang and the glass shatter behind him but just kept going as he tried not to just breakdown. He knew he should have just given himself over when the man had asked, commanded for him. Greg did not want anyone's blood spilt over him and he couldn't let Warrick or Nick's be spilled.

_How could you have left Warrick like that you jerk!_ Greg thought as he ran out the door, but there wasn't time for him to stop for long as a second man came out of the van and starting running towards him, Greg bolted once more. _Where the hell is everyone?! _Greg thought as he looked around for help. He could hear the man's heavy footsteps behind him charging like a bull.

"Give it up kid!" the man called "you ain't escaping me!"

Greg somehow managed to quicken his pace, for a boy who had not been allowed to play sports he could sure as hell run fast, but then again anyone probably could if their lives depended on it. The lab tech rounded a corner into an alley hoping to find a door he could break into but he was only met by the worst thing possible. A dead end. A wall of barbed wire stood at least ten feet tall over mocking the petrified lab rat, now he literally was like a rat trapped in a cage. Greg spun round breathing heavily and gripping the wires tight as the man approached him with gun in one hand, other hand clenched in a claw like manner.

"Please don't kill me" was the only thing Greg could think to breath. He wasn't like the others; he hadn't been trained to handle tough situations. He just ran evidence; he wasn't supposed to deal with these guys head on. "Pl-please, just take me to Nick, just do-don't kill him or me" the petrified young man stuttered.

"Alright, your wish is my command" the man said approaching Greg still as he pulled something out of his pocket. "Here…" the man said posing the syringe in front of Greg's face "this will make the journey a lot easier" and with that the man plunged the needle into Greg's neck making the lab tech give a pained whimper before slumping to the ground.

* * *

Back in the store Warrick was slowly starting to come round. There were still spots dancing in the corners of his vision and his head hurt like hell as he started to rub it in a circular motion and push himself into a sitting position. He couldn't get his head around what had just happened. But one thing he knew for sure, he had to go and look for Greg. The CSI had never felt so worried in his life, first his best friend had been kidnapped and now a kid he cared about like a little brother was running for his life.

"Greg!" Warrick called as he went to look outside the store, but his heart sank when he realised the van had gone. On the streetlight next to were the van had been parked, a note had been stuck down. Warrick went over to read it.

_Got him. You can't win CSI scum. _

"They're bluffing" he said shaking his head "they have to be bluffing" Warrick growled frustration and kicked the sidewalk; he knew he should have ripped that guy's throat out when he had the chance. And he still couldn't believe who one of the guys was… He pulled out his cell phone only to see it had been smashed in the struggle.

Warrick knew that Sara and Catherine were just a couple of blocks away at Marshall Rodriguez's house so he had to go tell them. His breathing was still ragged and his legs still shaking as Warrick turned and ran down the street. He ran as fast as he could not daring to look back. He skidded round the corner and saw Catherine and Sara still processing the street. He ran up to them and stood trying to catch his breath.

The two women looked at Warrick in shock, he just seemed to have sprinted in from nowhere and he looked a little worse for wear.

"You ok honey?" Catherine asked putting a hand on his shoulder and rubbing his back.

"Greg…." Warrick breathed "Call…call Greg!"

"Why?" Sara asked but she was already dialling, Warrick seemed pretty wound up so whatever it was must be important "it's just gone to voicemail" she said with a shrug.

Warrick girt his teeth and growled again in frustration, placing his hands behind his head and striding back and forth.

"Warrick what…." Catherine started, but then her heart sank as she thought the worst "Oh my God. Please…_please_ don't tell me…"

"They got him" Warrick said running a hand down his face.

"What?" Sara said in utter disbelief as Catherine stood in a stunned silence.

"Those bastards took him!" Warrick yelled aggressively and kicked over a nearby bin.

"Honey we need you to calm down and tell us exactly what happened." Catherine said trying to sooth Warrick and get him to look her in the eyes.

Warrick nodded and took a deep breath as he began to recall the events of a living nightmare.

* * *

**Let the whump begin :)**


	6. Chapter 5: Promises Can't Be Made

**A/N: Hey guys! So I still feel really bad about leaving the last chapter so long and so I decided to do another update and this chapter is super long, over 3,000 so double bonus! The angst stuff in this can be mild compared to other stuff I have planned (see prologue) but God I am evil XD Poor Nick and Greg :( Hope you enjoy and thanks for the awesome reviews! **

**Please Review :) xx**

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**Chapter 5: Promises Can't Be Made **

Nick felt a sharp stinging pain across his left cheek and twitched his nose in irritation. Then the same pain came again except this time on his right cheek. His eyes began to flicker open and he saw Seth's blurred figure stood over him, his hand raised.

"Come on Tex, wake up!" Seth yelled losing his patience; he slapped the CSI across the face again.

"What do you want?" Nick mumbled rather incoherently as his senses had not fully returned yet. He didn't want to wake up, because then he would have to accept that this new hell was also his new reality.

"I got a surprise for you" Seth said with an evil smirk. Just then Nick heard someone's horrific pleas and screams come from down the corridor. His eyes immediately widened "Ah that will be your new roommate" Seth explained, his grin getting broader.

The door slammed open and an unnaturally tall guy with the biggest muscles Nick had ever seen came in with someone thrown over his shoulder. The CSI recognised the man who now reminded him of a cage fighter, but that really wasn't important to him right now.

"No!" the young man over the big guys shoulder cried as he kicked and hit the jerk "please put me down, let me go!" the poor kid was sobbing and was absolutely petrified.

_Wait a second… _Nick thought _I know that voice… _and that's when he fully came to his senses.

"Oh my God no…" Nick whispered "please, no!" And with that the big guy threw a terrified Greg Sanders off his shoulder and onto the floor.

Greg lay on the floor for a few moments in shock, before rolling himself onto his chest and using his hands to push up off the floor as he sobbed loudly "N-n-Nick?" he asked lifting his head and looking at his friend slumped against the wall. "Nick!" he exclaimed and scrambled to his feet running to the CSI before dropping down beside him and burying his head into Nick's chest.

Nick put one arm around the young lab techs back and his other hand on the back of Greg's head, holding him tight. Greg was shaking uncontrollably and continued to sob into Nick's chest.

"Nick what's going on?" Greg pleaded for answers "I'm scared, Nick I'm so scared"

_Me too_ Nick thought solemnly, but he couldn't say this out loud. His younger friend needed to be comforted right now. Nick shushed the distraught lab tech and stroked the back of his head. "It'll be alright. I'm going to get you out I promise" Nick whispered determinedly, it was a promise he was going to keep. "Why?" he asked Seth in a bitter tone "Why did you have to bring him here, he didn't do anything!"

"Well I thought it would be a lot more fun to have some younger blood, easy to manipulate and break. And what better forms of torture for you than to watch the kid you love as a little brother suffer. " Seth said rubbing his hands together gleefully. Greg whimpered and buried himself further into Nick's chest, the CSI held to younger lab tech tighter to show he would protect him.

"I d-don't un-understand" Greg whispered "I don't understand!"

"That's not something you need to worry about now young one" Seth said. He beckoned the big guy forward with his hand "I don't think you guys should get so attached" he said and the big guy took hold of Greg's ankles, yanked him rather forcefully from Nick's grip and started to drag him across the floor.

Greg screamed "No! Nick!" he cried trying to grab hold of Nick's hand.

"Greg!" Nick tried a desperate grab back but he felt Greg's fingers slip from between his.

The guy dragged Greg across the room as he kicked and struggled with all his mite to get free but he was twice Greg's size at the _least._ He threw Greg up against the wall and put a shackle around his right ankle, just like Nick. Now the two men were locked down at opposite ends of the room and Greg felt even more scared, just being close to Nick made him feel safer because he knew Nick would always protect him, but now he didn't even have that to keep him going.

"I'll be back soon boys!" Seth said and the room was emptied except for the CSI and the lab tech.

Nick was too stunned to talk as he watched the petrified young man he loved like a little brother slowly lay down on his side facing the wall. His back shivered relentlessly and quiet sobs could be heard. Nick felt tears began to form in his own eyes. What had they done to deserve this?

* * *

Grissom was sat waiting for the others back at the lab after getting the bad news off Catherine. He was normally a very patient man but this time found himself drumming his fingers absentmindedly on his desk and looking at the clock every few seconds. Eventually Sara arrived and Grissom started to ask questions right away.

"What happened?" he asked as Catherine had been very brief on the phone.

"Well Catherine and I aren't sure but Warrick saw the whole thing. He's with Catherine and Brass now trying his best to tell them everything but the poor guys distraught. I don't think I've ever seen him this shaken up, or pissed" Sara explained sitting down opposite Grissom.

"How could I have let this happen Sara?" Grissom genuinely wanted to know "how could I have let them both get taken"

"Griss this isn't your fault" Sara said gently leaning forward and placing a hand on top of Grissoms. Normally he would feel uncomfortable about such contact but he really needed it and besides, there was something about Sara…

Just then Catherine entered the room followed by an extremely angry yet tired looking Warrick. Sara quickly pulled her hand away before they saw and offered the chair to Warrick as he didn't look like he'd be able to stand for much longer. Catherine had insisted he go to the hospital but the male CSI argued they had far more important things to be worrying about.

"I told Brass everything I could remember" Warrick mumbled, the bump on his head had not helped the matter. "I managed to remove one of the guy's masks though. You remember that guy Grant Hudson who applied to be a CSI at the same time Nick and I did, but he failed for a violent history?" Grissom nodded "well guess who showed up again today."

"Great so this guy has a vendetta against CSI's" Sara said with a mournful tone. She had been trying so hard to keep it together. She was normally a very strong person but now two people she loved like brothers had gone missing, it was becoming too much.

"Ok wait a second" Catherine said putting her hands on her hips "What the hell was Greg even doing with you anyway?" she asked Warrick, they had been so busy with the description they'd forgotten to ask this detail.

Warrick sighed and looked at the floor "the kid said he wanted to help. I didn't argue, I said he could come with me."

"What were you thinking!?" Sara exclaimed.

"I was thinking about Nick!" Warrick retorted "I just thought that if we maybe had another set of hands we'd get things done sooner. Yes, ok Greg going missing too is my fault, don't you dare make me feel any worse about it than I already do!" The CSI leant forward in his chair and buried his head in his hands.

"Warrick, you should go home" Grissom said. His tone was gentle yet firm so nobody could really tell what he was feeling. "Blaming yourself isn't going to bring Nick and Greg back, so don't bother. Yes, it was irresponsible to take Greg with you but you weren't to know. I'll deal with that later, for now we need to keep a clear head. So just go grab some rest."

"No I need to…" Warrick started to protest but Catherine put her finger to his lips.

"Go home Warrick" she said firmly, she knew that of all people Warrick would listen to her because she had always been mother of the group, and you don't argue with your mom. "We know you want to help but you're not going to be much help to Nick and Greg if you're too tired to think straight. If anything important happens we'll call you"

"Promise?" Warrick said doing his best to look at Catherine without his eyes drooping shut. He couldn't stand the thought of not knowing what was going on.

"Promise…come on I better drive you home or else you'll fall asleep at the wheel" she said taking hold of Warrick's arm and practically dragging him out the room.

"This is just so messed up" Sara said, taking the chair and running a hand threw her hair "there are some twisted people out there Griss" She didn't know what she would do to the bastard who took Nick and Greg when they found them…if they found them. Sara felt she was normally an optimistic person but this time she was finding it difficult.

"I know" Grissom said clasping his hands together and resting his chin on them.

There was a knock at his office door then. Grissom called them inside and it was the receptionist, she was holding another parcel. "Another one Mister Grissom" she said brightly putting it down on his desk.

"The man who brought this, was it the same one as last time?" Grissom asked quickly.

"I don't know Sir; I was just heading out to my car when I found it just left outside the building so I don't know how long it's been out there or who brought it"

"Alright, thank you" Grissom said rather solemnly and she put the box down on the desk before leaving.

"What was that about?" Sara said suddenly feeling more alert.

Grissom sighed and explained all about the parcel with the recorded message he had received earlier, the more he told her the wider Sara's eyes got.

"You should have told us earlier, we could have got protection!" Sara argued.

"I know, I know and I'm sorry. I know I just told Warrick not to blame himself but that doesn't mean I don't blame _my_self" Grissom said honestly, he didn't like feeling vulnerable but he also wasn't going to lie about it. Sara didn't really know what to say.

He opened the box and found it was another tape recorder. The last one sent had no fingerprints on it but again Grissom put gloves on just to be sure. Sara sat back down and leaned in to listen as Grissom pressed play. There was a beep just like the last recording and the same gruff voice began to speak.

"_That was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be. You guys aren't as well prepared as I thought. I mean a few hitches here and there but I still bagged my prize. Nick and I have had a lot of fun so far and we're excited about Greg joining the party. Talk soon"_

Another beep and the tape stopped. Sara sat in a stunned silence as she tried to take this in. He'd had _fun_ with Nick? That gave her a whole bunch of horrible thoughts_. _She couldn't understand how Grissom could stay so calm at a time like this, when so many lives were in danger.

"We gotta work faster" Sara said shaking her head "and we need to stay together, we don't know if they're going to target anyone else."

Grissom nodded in agreement "I'm going to the store were Greg went missing. Take this to Archie" he handed her the recorder.

"Ok" Sara said "but you better tell Cath and make sure Brass meets you at the store" she instructed, again Grissom nodded before leaving the room.

Sara sat alone in silence for a few minutes and she finally felt the tears begin to fall. She just wanted her brothers back.

* * *

Nick was really worried. Greg hadn't said a word since they had chained him to the other side of the room, and that had been over an hour ago. He just lay on his side facing the wall, shaking. Nick wished he could say something comforting but he knew any words he said would just be hollow and meaningless as right now he had no idea what was going to happen to them and he couldn't promise anything.

"Greggo?" he eventually said quietly not being able to take the normally over talkative lab techs silence anymore. Greg did not move or speak. "G, please say something?" Nick asked. He could feel the tears stinging in his own eyes. Suddenly a horrible thought struck him "Are you hurt?!" he asked urgently.

Greg sniffed and rubbed his eyes before pulling himself up and sitting against the wall and looking at Nick. He shook his head. It broke Nick's heart to see the stream line of tears down his little brother's face… to see him look so pale and shaking so violently from fear.

"What happened to you?" Greg asked going wide eyed as he truly studied Nick's bleeding face for the first time. He felt guilty for not asking sooner and a little selfish, but he knew Nick wouldn't hold a grudge because of it.

"I asked too many questions" Nick said "I guess I should learn to be less nosey" he added with a smile but Greg just looked at him even more worried.

"I'm sorry, that's awful. Does it hurt?" Greg asked with a worried frown.

"A little, but nothing I can't handle" Nicks said reassuringly, he had to try and stay strong for Greg. Although, his younger friend didn't look a hundred percent convinced.

"They are going to find us…aren't they?" Greg asked with a quaver in his voice. He just needed someone to tell him yes otherwise he would just lose all hope.

"Yes of course they will…but even if they had no chance, I'd make sure you got out no questions asked" Nick said making it sound like there was no other option and not something to be argued with.

"No" Greg said quietly and Nick looked at him confused. "No, please don't say that. We either both get out or we don't. Don't do anything stupid for my sake." Nick didn't say anything, "Nick please. _Promise _me you won't put yourself in danger because of me"

"I can't do that Greggo" Nick said with a shake of his head. Greg opened his mouth to say something else when the creaking of the door interrupted them and he immediately shut it and shrank back against the wall.

Seth entered with his knife gleaming in the light, freshly cleaned of Nick's blood. He turned to Greg "I'm sure you've noticed Nick's cuts by now and I thought you might be a little jealous. So I thought I'd give you the chance too."

He grabbed hold of Greg's wrist and tried to drag him away from the wall but Greg dug his heels into the ground and pulled back as hard as he could. "No, please!" he begged but Seth was too strong for him.

Nick meanwhile was trying to break free of his chain. "Touch him and I'll break every bone in your freakin' body!" he yelled.

"Oh, seems I have awoken some kind of beast" Seth said looking at Nick like the CSI was some kind of ravenous wild animal. He turned back to Greg, ignoring Nick's struggles. "Now let's see, how to do this." He rolled up Greg's sleeves "Look at this, wires for arms, there's no meat on you at all" he said pulling Greg's arm out straight. Greg turned his head and whimpered. "Here" Seth said placing the blade on the lab tech's wrist. Greg flinched at the feeling of the cold metal against his skin. "Or perhaps here" he said slowly tracing the knife up to Greg's forearm. "Ah, here will do nicely" he said bringing the knife all the way up the young man's arm and moving it to just above his collarbone. He knelt down behind the lab tech and wrapped his arm around Greg's throat, holding his head back.

"No, no, no, no" Greg had started to mumble as he closed his eyes and waited for the pain. His breathing had become heavy and rapid and he was almost trying to _make_ himself pass out so he wouldn't feel it.

"Shush, shush, shush" Seth soothed "I suggest you don't struggle, or I might accidently slip and get your throat" he said with a low chuckle.

"Stop ok, stop just use me instead!" Nick called with tears in his eyes, he had given up trying to break free but still he was ignored.

Seth made the first cut and Greg grit his teeth trying to not to cry out and give the bastard the satisfaction. The knife had pierced his skin and Seth was slowly digging it in deeper. Then he started to pull and then Greg screamed. Seth dragged the knife directly across Greg's chest; he'd never experienced anything like it before. He sobbed and kicked around trying to break free as the blood began to ooze like a red waterfall.

"Stop!" he yelled as Seth went back to the top of his collarbone and made a new cut getting ready to start the process again, and Nick had once again started to try and break free. He couldn't bare it, to see his little brother in so much pain, it broke him.

"Oh, God make it stop!" Greg cried, and as Seth dragged the knife down Greg's rapidly bobbing in out chest once more, this time, he didn't stop.

This time he left the knife hovering over Greg's heart.


	7. Chapter 6: Trying To Find Hope

**A/N: Hey my amazing readers! I cannot thank you enough for the all of your awesome reviews and for favouriting and following this story let alone reading it, you're the best! I know I'm struggling to keep updates consistent but I'm trying to make up for it with long chapters :P This one is a bit of a filler but I hope you'll enjoy anyway and there will be more from Greg's POV in the next chapter :) Enjoy! **

**Reviews are much appreciated and we'll have cake sometime as a thank you :3**

* * *

**Chapter 6: Trying To Find Hope **

"No" Seth said bluntly lowering the knife and pushing Greg back. The young man fell to the floor and whimpered, slowly moving a shaking arm to cover his deeply cut skin. "I couldn't end it like that. There's so much more I have planned!" the manic man said excitedly. He stood up and turned to Nick, who was sat back against the wall breathing heavily and looking beyond words. "You" he said jabbing the knife towards the Texan "just remember you and your CSI buddies did this" he said pointing the back at Greg. "You should just leave stuff alone. I'll be back later, just make sure the kid doesn't die." He said directly before leaving the room.

"Nick…" Greg moaned as soon as they were alone again. He'd managed to roll himself onto his side to face Nick and the CSI could see the blood smeared all over his friend's front and running down his arm "Won…won't stop bleeding"

"Alright, it'll be ok Greggo. I'm coming" Nick said determinedly. He looked down at the metal connecting him to the wall and saw the screws were just coming loose. He started pulling again, with as must strength as he could.

"Nick…stop" Greg's quiet voice pleaded "you'll break your ankle"

"Don't care" Nick mumbled as he continued to yank his foot.

Pain was shooting up and down Nick's side as he could pretty much confirm one of his ribs was broken. But he didn't care, he'd push through it and help Greg if it was the last think he did. The need to protect his little brother was taking over and nothing else mattered. The Texan gritted his teeth and bared it. Eventually there was a satisfying _creek_ as the metal gave way. Nick immediately stumbled over to Greg and ripped a sleeve off his own shirt to help stop to bleeding.

"I'm s-sorry Nick" Greg whispered as the older man put pressure on his wounds. Tears started to stream down the lab techs face once more "I t-tried to be st-strong, honest I d-did."

"Greg you have _nothing_ to be sorry for. I was just scared I was going to lose you" Nick said with tears in his own eyes. "And you are being strong, ok" he said reassuringly as it was obvious the younger man was trying _really _hard to stay conscious.

"I won't let you down" Greg said looking Nick in the eyes and the Texan pulled him into a gentle hug.

"I know you won't" he replied "you could never let me down."

* * *

Sara and Grissom arrived back at the lab after processing the store to find Catherine sat alone in the DNA lab. Greg's DNA lab. She had one of his CD's in her hand and was looking distant; she just wanted to feel close to him again, to him and Nick as she often found them laughing in here.

Grissom was already worried about Sara because she hadn't said a word since they found out Greg was missing and now it seemed he should be worried about Catherine too as she had tear lines streaking down her cheeks.

"I should have checked on him" Catherine said without even turning around. She heard Sara and Grissom enter but felt too guilty to look at them. "From the state he was in yesterday I should have made sure he was alright."

"Cath, this isn't your fault" Sara said much to Grissom's surprise as she'd broken her silence. "You weren't to know. It's no one's fault other than the bastards who did this." She moved to stand behind Catherine and started to soothingly rub her shoulders.

It was a rarity for Sara to comfort Catherine as they hadn't always got along, but that didn't matter now. Sara really admired Catherine and appreciated everything she'd done for her the past months. She'd been there as they put aside their differences. And now Sara knew that the older woman needed her comfort and reassurance, just like she had needed it from Catherine earlier.

"There was nothing we could have done" Grissom added in a somewhat stern tone as if he was trying to convince himself of that fact.

"No!" Catherine cried much to her friends' surprise. She jumped out her chair "there is _always_ something" she argued. The red rings around her eyes appeared much more prominent in the light. "We shouldn't have even let Nick get taken but now they have Greg too, two boys who I love like my own flesh and blood." _My sons_ she thought. She knew that if it were Lindsey who had been taken, she would be reacting the same way.

Catherine had started to shake a while ago from fear and anger. Sara was concerned the older woman might fall over so she moved swiftly over to Catherine and wrapped her arms around her in a tight embrace. Catherine broke down once more into Sara's shoulder.

"Remember what you told me?" Sara said eventually trying to trying to get Catherine to look her in the eyes as she pulled away. "You told me that we would find Nick and I believed you. I still believe you and I believe we'll find Nick and Greg _alive_."

Catherine wondered what had happened to her. She used to be so optimistic and so determined and now she just felt like giving up. But she knew she couldn't, she would never give up and neither would Sara, Grissom or Warrick. The thing that worried her most was what state the guys would be in when they found them….would they even have a pulse…

"I know that this is difficult for all of us" Grissom said taking charge as usual "but we have to carry on as if they are any other victims because if we let our personal emotions take over it'll just slow us down."

Catherine gave a shaky sigh as she finally controlled her tears and she turned to look at Grissom even though Sara still had an arm around her shoulders for support.

Grissom moved forward and put a hand on both the girl's shoulders "I need you to stay with me on this one" he said looking into their eyes in turn. "And I know Warrick feels guilty now but he won't stop until we find them."

"We're with you all the way. We're with Nick and Greg." Sara said. Catherine nodded in agreement.

"Good" Grissom said "Sara, go to autopsy and get the bullet that killed the store owner and take it for processing. Catherine, start to look at the security tapes we collected, Warrick should be here soon to help you. I'm going to found out more about the last parcel we got."

The woman nodded and went off to do their allocated jobs, as did Grissom. He put his thumb and forefinger to his eyes and massaged them slightly, he'd never felt so drained, so _emotionally_ drained. Although he didn't like to show it he was having a very tough time coming to terms with the situation too.

He felt like he had let them all down. As Nick's mentor he felt he should have trained him better and kept a closer eye on them. As for Greg, even though he was not directly Grissom's responsibility he wished he had paid more attention to the young man and tried to make sure he was alright during this hard time. He was the only lab technician after all who the team felt really close too because he was always there for them.

One thing that Grissom was certain of was that they would find the boys. Right now his heart was telling him they'd be alive, but his head was telling him otherwise.

* * *

It had taken a long time, but Greg's wounds had finally stopped bleeding. Nick was amazed so much blood could come out such a small person. The Texan had been keeping pressure on the cuts for what felt like eternity before the blood stopped. The material he had been using was soaked in the dreaded red substance and Greg obviously needed medical attention, they both did. But for now Nick had to make do as he managed to secure the material in place like a makeshift bandage.

It also made him feel sick how his hands where now covered in the blood of someone he truly cared about. He literally now had Greg's blood on his hands and at the moment Nick felt like he may as well have inflicted the wounds on Greg himself. The guilt of not being able to stop Seth in time was eating away at him and he didn't think it would ever stop.

Greg had been very patient with him, not complaining about the pain once. Every now and again Nick's eyes would flick over to Greg's pale face and he could see the younger man's eyes becoming more closed every time. In some aspects Nick wished Greg would complain because then he would at least know the lab tech hadn't gone into shock.

Greg had finally fallen asleep in Nick's arms. At first Nick had worried the younger man had lost consciousness so tried to wake him and Greg stirred a little and rolled over, so the CSI at least knew he was only asleep. So, Nick decided to let him rest as the poor kid looked exhausted and he needed sleep if he was going to try and keep as much of a clear head as possible. Nick himself had contemplated trying to sleep but for the moment he just wanted to keep guard over his little brother.

Nick managed to take off Greg's jacket and fold it for the younger man to rest his head on; the CSI then positioned Greg in a more comfortable position on the floor so that he could use his new freedom (sort of) to explore the room further.

He just needed a crack, a number, a word, anything that could be of use to getting them out of there or at least figuring out where they were. Nick went to the far corner and placed his hand on the wall before beginning to walk around the room, tracing the edges. He felt every bump and break in the wall but nothing else. Nick thought he was partly hoping to find a hidden door somewhere.

He stopped at the small, barred window and peered out. It was really dark now but Nick got the general gist. Seth was right; they were well and truly in the middle of the desert. _Well that narrows it down_ Nick thought sarcastically. There was nothing but the sand almost taunting them, keeping their location hidden. Nick was starting to lose hope by the second now. He then studied the door, placing his hands on the smooth metal and then placing an ear on it as he knocked. It was extremely thick he could tell that much. Maybe if they managed to pick to the lock or undo the screws somehow…

Greg groaned in his sleep and Nick turned when he heard the chain rattle on the lab techs ankle as he rolled over again. The Texan looked at the metal shackle still on Greg's ankle and it made him angry. It shouldn't be there and this shouldn't be happening. He would work on removing it later, but for then he went back to studying the door.

"Nick?" Greg's quiet voice broke through the darkness about half an hour later. "Nick, where are you?" the young man asked panicking slightly as he realised he was alone on the floor.

"Hey, it's ok I'm right here" Nick replied. There was barely any light at all, only that of the moon, so Greg could only just make out the Texans form coming towards him.

"Are you ok?" Greg asked, he didn't see but Nick rolled his eyes. He felt it typical that Greg would worry about him even though he was clearly walking around fine.

"Yes I'm fine, how do you feel?" Nick asked.

"A little light headed" Greg said placing a hand on his now grime covered forehead "but I'll be alright, at least I'm not bleeding anymore." It was the only snippet of good news he could think of at that dark time.

"I know, just hang on ok. We'll be out of here in no time." Nick reassured him, but he could not clearly see the apprehensive look on Greg's face.

"Can you help get this thing off me?" Greg said taking the chain around his ankle and pulling at it slightly. He was sick of feeling like some captured pet and at least wanted to be able to move a little more.

"Yeah sure" Nick said taking hold of the chain and pulling hard, but suddenly he hissed in pain and feel to the floor.

"Oh my God, are you ok?" Greg asked with deep concern.

"Yeah" Nick said gritting his teeth and sitting back up "one of my ribs is broken"

"What? Why didn't you tell me?!" Greg exclaimed taking Nick's arm and guiding him to sit against the wall.

"What could you have done? It's no big deal" the Texan argued.

"No big deal? Why you always got to play macho man?" Greg said with a small smile. It was the first jokey thing he'd said in a while.

"Because, it's my job" Nick replied.

"Look, I don't know if it's just because you're trying to make me look even more of a wimp but I know that you're just as scared as I am, even if you won't admit it" Greg said. Nick said nothing so the younger man knew he was right. "Nick, I don't want you to keep stuff bottled up inside ok, not for my sake. We're in this together, just remember that. I would never judge you I swear."

"I know and you're right" Nick said as tears began to prickle in his eyes "You're right. I'm scared."

Greg shifted to sit beside him and rest his head on Nick's shoulder, placing a hand on the Texans arm. "And now it's my turn to tell you" he whispered "we'll get out of here soon. The others will find us."

Nick gave Greg a grateful smile when suddenly there was as noise as key was placed in the lock. Nick immediately lurched forward and pushed Greg behind him in a protective manner as they waited for the door to open.


	8. Chapter 7: Feels Like Drowning

**A/N: Hey guys I hope you are well! Why has CSI not started in the UK yet, I'm going mad XD It's a good think I still have Fanfiction to keep me entertained :) Thank you so much for your awesome reviews, you guys are the best! Poor Greg, why do I torture him so :( Bring on the whump! **

**Please Review they are like candy to me (well, sweets 'cause I'm British :3)**

* * *

**Chapter 7: Feels Like Drowning **

"What do you want?" Nick commanded as soon as Seth stepped through the door with Grant and Marshall Rodriguez in tow, Nick should have known he was the other guy in on this.

"You managed to break free" Seth said, he seemed quite impressed "I didn't know you had it in you. The strength that you can gather just for the purposes of saving a weakling like him" he said peering round Nick's leg to see Greg, trying to push himself up into a standing position but failing miserably.

"Shut up" Nick said in almost a growl, he was sick of these guys treating them like dirt.

"Now that's no way to talk to your host" Seth said steeping forward, so did Grant and Marshall.

Nick almost laughed "looks like you've got yourself a couple of lap dogs" he said eyeing the two supposed assistants up and down. "What did you do, threaten to take away their play time?"

"You've got some nerve given your position" Seth snarled "But they both have their reasons for being here. Besides, you're obviously scared of them or else you'd have ripped my throat out by now."

"Oh trust me, you've got a worse fate than that coming to you" Nick said narrowing his eyes. His words were so true that it even frightened Greg a little, who at that moment felt it best to stay quiet and out of the way.

"Step aside Tex and let my play with my toy" Seth demanded.

Nick heard Greg inhale slightly behind him as the young man tensed and pushed back against the wall. "Please don't hurt me anymore" the scared lab tech whispered so quietly that only Nick heard him. It broke the CSI's heart.

"Over my dead body" The Texan said making his stance wide and his fists clenched.

"Nick no!" Greg exclaimed as the life suddenly seemed to jump back into him at the thought of his older brother doing something stupid just to protect him.

"Listen to him Tex" Seth said whilst Grant and Marshall started to advance towards Nick "you don't know how easily I can make that statement come true."

"No, stop it!" All the men were surprised when Greg suddenly leapt between Nick and the two kidnappers. He placed a hand on Nick's chest to hold him back and put the other hand out as if in surrender to the kidnappers. "What is it you want?" Greg asked the earlier question in as confident a voice as he could manage, but there was still an underlying tone of fear.

"You got guts kid" Seth said looking the lab tech up and down "more than I originally thought you had. You deserve some praise, how about we get that shackle off you, hmm?"

Greg was about to make a snide remark about how he couldn't trust the fact they wouldn't break his ankle in the process, but felt almost lightened when he heard the click of the lock being undone as Marshall pulled out the key and a clang of metal falling to the floor.

"All that blood" Seth said looking the lab techs slender frame up and down "hard to believe" he said with a nod of his head. "I know what you need, you need a nice bath" the tormenter said with a wide grin spreading across his face. "Yes, that will make you more relaxed."

Nick couldn't stand there anymore "Touch him and I'll…" but he was silenced by Grant pushing Greg out of the way and shoving Nick back against the wall, wrapping his hands around the CSI's throat.

"He said stay out of the way" the extremely muscular man growled in a voice Nick no longer recognised. The CSI was starting to choke as he clawed desperately at Grant's hands but the man was unbreakable.

"No stop, let go of him!" Greg yelled trying to go and help his friend but then two more strong arms wrapped around his waist and lifted him off the ground. "No please, let him go, let him go!" Greg pleaded not caring about his own safety anymore. If Nick was willing to do stupid things for him, he'd do stupid things for Nick. He kicked at Marshall but the man was still a lot stronger than Greg.

"Grant, drop him. You don't where he's been" Seth said in disgust and the muscular man let the CSI slide to the floor.

Nick gasped for air and raised a hand to his throat as he coughed and spluttered. Black spots were dancing in his vision and the world was spinning, but he could still make out Greg's small frame fighting against Marshall's. He tried to get up and help his young friend but his airways still felt constricted and so he only got a head rush and fell over again. He could hear the tormenters laughing.

"Nick? Nick, say something please!?" he heard Greg, his little brother begging for him. The CSI wanted to answer but he couldn't find the strength.

"He'll be fine kid" Seth said with a dismissive wave of his hand "come on let's get you cleaned up" and with that Grant grabbed hold of Greg's legs and Marshall still had his arms around Greg's waist as they began to carry the still fighting lab rat out the door.

By the time Nick came round to his senses enough to register what was going on it was too late, as he heard the heavy metal door being closed once more and he was left alone in the room. He could still here Greg's muffled but desperate pleas coming from the hallway. Nick staggered over to the door and started slamming his left palm against the metal.

"Leave him alone!" he yelled, but he didn't know why he bothered because he knew he wouldn't be heard. "Please" he said to himself that time as he stopped banging on the door and rest his head against the cold metal "Please just leave him alone" he whispered as the tears began to fall.

* * *

Greg was absolutely terrified.

Somehow more terrified than he had been with the knife because this time, he didn't know what was coming. Seth was a psychopathic monster, he could have anything planned. The young lab tech had been trying hard not to cry because he didn't want to be weak anymore and he didn't want Nick to resent him for not fighting back. So instead his body just wracked with violent shaking as he didn't know what else to do. He had given up trying to plead for some kind of mercy because it was apparent his words were useless, and the pain that was still crossing his collar bone and chest made him keep his mouth shut too.

Grant and Marshall followed behind Seth as he led them into the grimiest bathroom Greg had ever seen. Once white tiles were literally falling off the wall and there was a mirror smothered in dirt and somebody else's blood. A sink lay partially detached from the wall and there was a toilet with the lid broken off. There was also a cracked looking bath, filled with water.

_Oh God _Greg started to panic as his eyes grew wider _Oh my God!_ He started struggling once more as the reality of what was probably about to happen hit home hard.

"Now young one, this will be the only other room you shall see when I let you and Nick use the facilities" Seth explained "but I thought a nice calming bath is what you needed right now. How about we take those filthy clothes off?" he said with a wicked smile.

"Don't you dare, don't you dare touch me!" Greg started yelling then, there was no way this guy was going to take away what little dignity he felt he had left.

"Aww way to spoil my fun" Seth said sounding disappointed. "Ah well, have it your way then" and with that Greg was held over the bath and plunged into murky water.

Greg had to remind himself not to scream unless he wanted his lungs to fill with water. Instead he went wide eyed and broke his arms through the surface, clawing at the side of the bath to try and get out but Seth had a hand on his chest, pushing the young lab tech back down. The water was like ice. It made Greg's body convulse and a repetitive shiver was being sent up and down his spine. He couldn't see anything other than Seth's distorted face and what looked like a smile. Greg didn't know if he could hold his breath for much longer.

Suddenly Seth grabbed hold of Greg's shirt and pulled him to the surface. The young man immediately started gasping for air but it wasn't long before he was being forced back under. The water around him had started to turn red as his make shift bandage floated to the surface.

_I don't want to die_ Greg thought as he looked up at the dim light bulb like it was the light at the end of the tunnel. _Please, I don't want to die like this._

He was once again pulled up to the surface. This went on for about ten minutes, Greg being held under the water, forced to hold his breath before being given only five seconds at the most to regain some air and being plunged back into the dim depths again. It was the longest ten minutes of Greg's life.

At first he'd tried fighting, pushing up against Seth's hand and trying to crawl up the side of the bath. But after a while the lack of oxygen started to get to him, his body grew weak and tired as his lungs started to fill with water and he could fight no more. Eventually, it felt like the last thread of consciousness was about to leave him and that once he let his eyes slip shut, he wouldn't open them again. _I'm so sorry_ Greg thought as the darkness started to consume him _I'm so sorry Nick for leaving you here with these lunatics, I'm sorry guys for not being able to hold on. I've let you all down. Forgive me._

When Greg was once again brought back to the surface, he did not cough and spit out water. He just lay in Seth's grip with his head slumping to one side and his blue lips slightly parted, the changed colour due to the below freezing temperature of the water. The young man's skin was so ghostly pale his tormenters wondered if he was actually breathing anymore, but then he started to give heavy and laboured breaths and it was obvious his lungs were filled with water.

Greg's normally perfectly styled hair was plastered to his face and his clothing felt dense, like a bag of rocks had been tied around his body. His vision was still blurry even though he was out of the water and he couldn't find the energy to open his eyes to more than a thin line. His hearing was muffled as his ears were clogged with water, but he knew Seth was saying something to him.

_Ok_, Greg thought _Ok, I don't care anymore. I can't stand to be in this hell hole any longer. Just take me. Just let it all end._

"Come on kid" Seth said tapping Greg harshly on the side of the face. The kid simply groaned and turned away from the hand. "Here I'll give you a hand" the kidnapper said positioning Greg so that he was slumped forward and then hitting him hard on the back repeatedly until the lab tech started to violently cough up the water.

Greg felt like his throat was on fire and that he was still going to choke to death if not because of the water, because of the lack of air. Even once he coughed up all the water he could, Greg's breathing was still hoarse and unnerving. He gripped the side of the bath as tight as he could with his shaking hands as he tried to keep balanced.

"Y-you b-b-bastard" the young man managed to say through his chattering teeth. It was the boldest thing he had said since he first arrived but he was determined to make himself heard.

"Well that's not nice" Seth pouted, gripping the weak kid under his shoulders and dragging him out of the water.

As his body left the water Greg didn't feel much different. His skin still felt like it was covered in a thin layer of ice and he could barely stand by himself as his legs were trembling so badly. A pool was slowly but surely forming around him as water dripped repeatedly from his hair and clothes.

"Aww it's like watching Bambi learn to walk" Seth said with a pleased smile whilst his cronies chuckled. "Sorry but I don't have the luxury of towels, oh well at least you're nice and clean now. I'm sure Grant will be willing to give you a lift back to your room." Greg opened his mouth to try and protest but the monster of a man had already slung him over his shoulder within a few seconds.

Greg wasn't very much aware of the journey between the dingy bathroom and the even dingier room Nick was trapped in. He just heard the door open and Nick call his name before the young man was thrown onto the floor and started coughing violently once more. Nick was saying something to him but Greg couldn't find the will to talk as he got up on all fours and started to cough up water once more, he didn't think he'd swallowed that much but he had obviously been wrong. His throat felt like it was being ripped to pieces.

"It'll be ok" Nick soothed him as he held Greg steady and rubbed his back gently, in a circular motion. At first he had flinched at the cold touch of the kid's skin but he knew his little brother needed his comfort right now. "Just breath ok, steady breaths, everything will be alright" He was furious, at himself as well as those evil bastards.

Eventually Greg grew tired as he sat back and wrapped his arms around himself trying to preserve any body heat he had left. Nick immediately grabbed Greg's jacket and wrapped it around the young man. Nick then wrapped his arms around his little brother and pulled him close intending to share his body heat, concern for himself no longer existent.

At first Greg tried to pull away because he didn't want to make Nick feel like he was getting hypothermia too, but he soon let himself wriggle into Nick's side as the Texan rest his head on top of the lab techs and rubbed Greg's arms as the poor kid started to sob once more even though he still couldn't breathe properly. Everything hurt.

"I'm so sorry Greg" Nick said as tears started to fall from his own eyes "I'm so, so sorry."


	9. Chapter 8: Closer Than Before

**A/N: Heyy my lovely readers! How are you today? Thank you so much for all the fantastic reviews as well as reading/alerting/favouriting! It all makes me smile so much and encourages me to write well (hopefully) so thank you! Lots of good old bromance in this one, the team find a clue and a little more about Seth's past. Hope you enjoy :) **

**Yes CSI starting in March UK! Bring it on :D **

**Reviews = Marshmallows :) xx**

* * *

**Chapter 8: Closer Than Before **

Catherine had been biting her nails anxiously as she watched Archie work on the security tapes. Warrick had arrived moments ago with his arms firmly folded across his chest, keeping himself to himself as always, not letting on how worried – or rather scared- for his friends he truly was.

They started with the tape from inside the store and Catherine watched in horror as Warrick pushed a blatantly petrified Greg behind the counter. Warrick himself could not look as he knew it was that one small maneuverer that would ultimately result in Greg being discovered and taken. Then a man entered dressed head to toe in black with big sunglasses and a bandana covering his face. Much to their annoyance this meant they couldn't pick up any facial recognition.

They watched as the poor woman got shot and Catherine could see Greg trying so hard not to scream. She watched Warrick go check on the woman, the way his eyes met Greg's, Catherine knew he was only thinking about getting Greg out alive. She knew all her team members too well. The female CSI risked a glance over at Warrick and although he looked pretty stoic, there was something much deeper going on underneath.

The next thing was Greg making a run for it and Warrick being left to tackle the man to the ground. That was before the CSI got knocked out, at this point Catherine put a comforting hand on Warrick's arm and he gave her a small smile to show he was ok, a lie obviously.

"I got a licence plate!" Archie suddenly exclaimed happily as he'd been looking at the tape from outside the store. Catherine and Warrick immediately went to take a look.

"Great! Run it" Catherine said eagerly, this could be a big break. She watched in anticipation as Archie began typing away at the keyboard.

"It's registered to a builder's yard in Henderson" the lab tech stated scanning the screen. "The yard belongs to a Sam Smith"

"Awesome, print us the address, we've got to go and find Sara and Grissom" Warrick said. He patted Archie on the back as a thank you before he and Catherine left in a hurry to track down their other colleagues.

They found Grissom in one of the fingerprinting labs looking unusually stressed for him.

"Nothing!" he said angrily throwing his hands up in exasperation. "No fingerprints just as before. All I know is it's the same male voice on both the tapes."

"Well, we _do_ have something" Catherine said and Grissom gave her his immediate attention. "It might not be much but we know where the van comes from that took the guys"

"Not much?" Grissom said in disbelief "Cath, this is the first lead we've got that's great!"

"And we might just have another one" Sara said running into the room with a smile on her face "the bullet that killed the store owner came from a very rare type of gun form the sixties. There are only two registered in Vegas. One is in a museum and the other belongs to a Seth Falkner."

"Great work Sara, you got this guy's address?" Grissom asked.

"Sure do, I'm meeting Brass down there ASAP" Sara explained.

"Ok, Catherine and I are going to find out more about the van. Warrick you go with Sara. We'll regroup later and share what we've found" Grissom instructed. The others nodded and the CSI's split up.

* * *

He had heard the whole thing.

Nick heard Greg coughing up what sounded like his lungs and begging for it to stop, but his pleases went unheard. They were hurting him, torturing Nick's little brother and there was nothing he could do to stop it. The CSI had tried breaking the door open up until the point his right side was in excruciating pain and he could not stand to move any longer; no matter how much his mind protested his body made him fall. Nick cried not because of the pain he was in, but because of the pain _Greg_ was in. He hadn't heard anything like it before; what were they doing? Choking him… If Greg died because of them, Nick would not be held responsible for his actions.

Eventually Nick couldn't take it anymore. He sat with his back against the wall in the farthest corner of the room, pulled his knees into his chest and covered his ears. It was a psychological reaction really, he used to do it when he was little and his parents would argue, which was quite often. He did it to drown out the sound and try and kid himself into thinking that everything was alright. But it never was, and it never would be ever again, for him and Greg.

He felt really guilty, like he was abandoning Greg, but he couldn't stand the sound of the young man suffering any longer, knowing there was nothing he could do to help. Nick felt useless, in fact he hated himself_. It's all my fault_, he keep thinking to himself _it's all my fault, he'll hate me, he'll hate me, and I deserve to be hated. _Nick thought he was stronger than this, in fact he _knew _he was stronger than this, but those bastards were using mind games to hurt him, hurting Greg to hurt Nick, and it was working.

After a while Nick slowly lowered his shaking hands and was relieved when there was silence no choking. No Choking. The relief soon turned into fear.

"They've killed him" Nick whispered to himself. Suddenly the door swung open. "Greg!" Nick called out as the younger man was thrown to the floor and the door closed behind him with no explanation. "Oh my God Greg, say something, please?" Nick begged but the young man suddenly rose onto his knees and his back arched as he had the most terrifying coughing fit the CSI had ever heard. Greg's whole body wracked with coughs and his skin was ice cold to the touch and wet. They had tried to drown him obviously, and that made Nick's wish to kill increase.

Eventually, Greg sat back and wrapped his arms around himself shivering like he'd spent the past week in the North Pole. Nick quickly grabbed Greg's jacket before wrapping it around the trembling young man and pulling him into his arms, hopefully into warmth and into safety. He was not surprised when Greg tried to pull away at first, it was typical for him to be thinking of Nick before himself even the though the Texan was clearly ok. Sometimes Nick damned the kids selflessness and often told Greg he was too nice for his own good if he was going to make it in a city like Vegas.

Greg finally relaxed into Nick's arms and the Texan placed his head on top of the younger mans as a sign of protection and began rubbing his arms. That's when Greg started to sob once more and it broke the Texans heart.

"I'm so sorry Greg" Nick said as he couldn't hold back his own emotions any longer "I'm so, so sorry"

"D-d-don't b-be" Greg said ever so quietly. His throat was incredibly hoarse and his voice extremely croaky, the colour was only just starting to come back to him "'s not your f-fault, n-n-never your f-fault."

"You know I'll never believe that" Nick sniffed "I should have stopped them; I shouldn't have let them take you. I should have tried everything in my power to help you. I could hear you, pleading with them…" Greg wasn't aware he did that, he was obviously so scared he didn't even realise his own mouth moving. "And I didn't do anything, but I just wanted to make them stop"

"Nick" Greg said his voice still raspy but his shaking considerably less after gaining some warmth "I don't doubt that you tried to help me, I don't doubt that you tried to escape. I'm really sorry you had to hear that"

"You're apologising?" Nick said in disbelief "Greg don't you dare apologise for what _they_ did to you."

"I'm not apologising for them… I'm apologising because I didn't put up a big enough fight and I let it happen. I shouldn't have let it happen…I wasn't strong enough, as always. I let you down and I'm sorry."

Nick was thunderstruck. "What have they said to you? Did they tell you that you were being weak?" that was the only explanation he could come up with, that these bastards had brainwashed Greg somehow because there was no way the young man should be thinking about himself like that.

"No" Greg mumbled "I could figure that out for myself."

"Greg, just stop it ok, please stop it. Stop telling yourself that you're being weak because that's as far from the truth as you can get. People wouldn't normally last a day but you're still here. They would have succumbed to the torture, but not you, not the oh mighty Greg Sanders" Nick was relieved when the lab rat gave what sounded like a very quiet laugh, but then he coughed again.

"And he wouldn't be so mighty without his noble sidekick" Greg said with a smirk.

"Hey why am I the sidekick?" Nick asked pretending to sound offended, he was just glad he'd distracted Greg from the pain.

"Alright fine" Greg said with a roll of his eyes "I would be happy to be the Robin to your Batman" he said with a sincere smile.

"No we're more equal than that" Nick said in a ponderous tone "we're two peas in a pod"

"I hate peas, I only use to pretend to eat them when I was a kid" Greg said wrinkling his nose in disgust and Nick let out a chuckle "Although I'd kill to eat them now" the lab tech said rubbing his empty stomach. Nick realised just how hungry he was too, they both had not eaten in nearly three days. "Well, at least I'm not going to dehydrate. I think I've swallowed enough water to last me a life time" Greg said with a humourless laugh.

"What exactly…" Nick started to ask but then stopped, he didn't want his little brother to have to relive memories he so desperately wanted to forget.

"You wanna know what happened?" the young man asked looking up at the CSI.

"No, no that's ok. You don't have to talk about it" Nick said reassuringly giving Greg's shoulders a light squeeze "It's over now, you don't have to think about it anymore."

"But I will" Greg said quietly "It'll haunt me forever, this whole thing will. It'll never go away, the fear will never stop" Nick's heart sank at these words.

Although, he didn't know how to be comforting because he knew these words applied to him too. Such words of suffering and torment sounded wrong coming from Greg's mouth.

"I'll never have a bath again that's for sure" Greg mumbled and Nick went wide eyed wondering what that could mean. "They tried to drown me" Greg said sounding distant, skipping the bit about Seth wanting to take his clothes off. "They held me down in a bath of ice water, and I'd struggle to get out but they wouldn't let me go" Nick felt the young man shuffle even further into his grip as he said this, looking for protection, protection the Texan would happily give. "Just when I felt I might pass out, escape it all, they'd pull me up to the surface and I'd nearly choke on the air… then they'd push me back under. There was a second… a split second… were I wished my heart would just stop beating."

"Don't say that" Nick begged with tears in his eyes once more "Please don't say that, don't even think that." The thought of Greg wishing death upon himself scared the CSI to no end.

"I know" Greg said "but I didn't give up. I couldn't leave you on your own here, you wouldn't last another day without me, eh?" he said with gentle smile.

"No, no you're right I wouldn't. And by no means am I saying I'm glad you're here…but I know I wouldn't have made it this far without you." the Texan said sincerely.

"It's ok, I don't mind keeping you company…or sane for that matter" Greg said with a soft smile.

After that both CSI's began to grow tired and Nick watched as his younger friend finally fell asleep in his arms once more. Exhaustion and hunger was finally taking over their bodies, as Nick laid himself and Greg down on the ground.

* * *

Seth was bored. And in the case of the psychopathic man that meant he had to think up some other torturous way to entertain himself. He had a number of methods in his mind but he wasn't sure which to go with next. He wanted to use this time to take as much revenge as he could on those stupid CSI's. His so called brother – in – law and supposed niece and nephew had degraded his sister tenaciously and eventually been the cause of her death. All he wanted was a little vengeance, was that too much to ask? But then those senseless CSI's had gotten in the way and tried to catch him.

Ever since he was a child Seth had been bullied and outcast after revealing himself to be gay at the mere age of 14, his sister had always been there for him when their parents hadn't. Without her, he wouldn't be here today. She was the sweetest and kindest girl he knew, so when he found out Eric Dawson had kicked her out and the kids refused to see her, it had angered Seth momentously, and they had already sealed their fate. He had hired Marshall to help him and they had grown to be quite good friends, it was by mere coincidence Marshall's friend Grant, had a crusade against this particular group of CSI's.

Seth would often lock himself in his room after a day ay school of being constantly terrorized. He'd take his father's lighter and write the names of the kids who bullied him on a piece of paper. Then he'd burn it. He'd imagine it was them burning. It made him feel better, like some justice was being done. His rationalisation for his behaviour was often that he didn't want to be this way, but over the course of his life people had pushed him to. And he was sick of being pushed around.

_Hmm _he thought in the present day_, I've done water… how about fire?_ _Yes, I think the boys deserve a bit of a candle lit dinner._ A sadistic smirk grew across his face, just like it did when he use to burn the pieces of paper. The cogs were working, and he enjoyed turning his torture into a piece of art.

The madman went into a different room where his two assistants where playing cards. After instructing them of his plan, Marshall went out to get what they needed whilst Grant followed Seth to their captives' room. They couldn't hear anything from the inside and so Seth quietly opened the door.

"Well isn't that sweet" Seth whispered with a grin at the two hostages on the floor.

Nick had his arm firmly wrapped around Greg's waist from fear the young lab tech would be taken away from him again. They could hear Greg was still breathing but it sounded pretty shallow and rough.

"Poor boy just worked for the wrong people" the ringleader whispered as he studied the young man's small frame. "Now, let's get this show on the road."


	10. Chapter 9: More Suprises

**A/N: Heyy people! Sorry it's taken so long, had a bit of writers block and the usual with college, Urgh. Anyways, I hope you likey :) Obviously I made up the bit about Greg when he was 12 (you'll see when you read) but I wanted to add it for the story. A strong bonding moment, and some more from the rest of the team , I hope you like the little bit with Warrick and Sara in particular :) **

**Thanks for the awesome reviews so far! I would love more :) xx**

* * *

**Chapter 9: More Surprises **

Warrick and Sara arrived at Seth Falkner's house to find Brass already there waiting. The detective had put everything else aside, no case was as important as this for as long as it took to find Nick and Greg. He had been Nick's mentor for a while, seen him progress, and although he did not no Greg well, he had a soft spot for the kid just as everyone else did at the lab.

"We've cleared the place" the detective explained as they walked towards to door "It's…hard to explain, it kind of looks like a horror movie in there." As they stepped through the door, the two CSI's could see exactly what the detective meant.

There were dead and tortured rabbits, birds, cats, hanging from the ceiling like some weird ritual. It made Sara remember why she was a vegetarian. _Practise_ she thought as they walked into the living room _this is how serial killers usually start_. It looked like the animals blood had been used to write various eerie words on the wall. _Death. Vengeance. Pay._ It sent a shiver down the CSI's' spine.

"Looks like some kind of shrine" Warrick said walking over to the mantel piece. Pictures and various ornaments of Seth's sister surrounded it "this guy is not mentally stable" he added with a sigh "although I think we already knew that."

Sara picked up a photo "Hey look at this, it's Seth with the Dawson's….and if this shrine is to his sister…" she said looking at all their childhood photos "that makes him the Dawson's relative, uncle and brother-in-law."

"Of course… Molly Faulkner" Warrick said with a sudden realisation "I remember day shift working her case a few weeks ago, suicide."

"You reckon Seth blamed them for his sister's death?" Sara asked. It was tragic how families could so easily turn on each other… a tragedy the female CSI knew all but to well.

Warrick nodded "and he blames us for trying to find out why and messing with his plans"

"What the hell happened to this guy that made him this way" Sara said looking up at the animals once more. She felt no sympathy for him of course, he'd kidnapped her friends, but she was just curious as always.

"Right, we need to try and find clues of where he took Nick and Greg" Warrick said bringing the focus back to the task at hand. "And we know that Grant and Marshall are helping him."

"Ok, you stay down here and I'll take upstairs" Sara suggested and turned to leave, but Warrick grabbed her arm.

"No, we stay together. Last time I suggested we split up…it didn't go well for Nick" Warrick said looking down at the floor and Sara gave him a sympathetic smile "I won't lose you too Sara" the male CSI said, revealing his fears, a rarity for him.

Sara put a gentle hand on his arm "Alright, I'm not going anywhere" and with that the two CSI's got to work.

* * *

He was dreaming. He had to be.

Nick was back in the lab, he walked past Grissom's office to see his supervisor reading a book about bugs, and the Texan smiled and rolled his eyes. He walked past the break room where he heard Sara and Catherine's laughter and he smiled as he walked by, observing them share some funny story over a coffee. He walked past Trace where he saw Warrick leaned back against the desk tapping his foot impatiently as Hodges rambled on about something, the taller CSI turned to Nick and shook his head in disbelief at Hodges, and Nick laughed.

He headed down the corridor towards the DNA lab and the air changed, literally, it smelled like burning. Why did it smell like burning? _Greg!_ Was Nick's only thought as he ran the rest of the way. He froze in the doorway.

Greg was tied to his chair, slumped forward from loss of consciousness and his face covered in blood and bruises. Seth was stood over him laughing, a lighter in his hands. A fire had been started in the corner of the lab. Nick opened his mouth to scream, to tell them to stop, but for some reason no words would come out and his feet seemed to be frozen to the ground. He looked round frantically for help, but everyone else seemed to be carrying on like nothing was happening.

It was then Seth noticed the CSI's presence. He smiled sadistically and then dropped the lighter to the ground. The world seemed to slow as Nick's eyes grew wide and he watched the fire make contact with some clear liquid on the ground he hadn't noticed before. Greg and Seth were both engulfed by flames as fire started to creep up the walls around them. He watched in horror as Greg slowly lifted his head, their eyes met, and all the Texan could see what hate, Greg's hatred for him at letting this happen. The fire grew wider and then they truly disappeared. Then Nick screamed.

When he woke up, Nick was going to find he wasn't that far from the truth.

* * *

Catherine and Grissom arrived at the builder's yard in Henderson along with Detective Vega; they went straight to the office wanting to immediately talk to the owner, Sam Smith.

"About time!" the man said as soon as Grissom had explained why they were there "I called in a stolen van about two days ago!"

"I don't remember that call" Vega said in his stoic tone. "And no offence, but we've had far more important stuff to deal with then some dodgy building business."

"Which of your employees usually use this van?" Grissom asked before a fight broke out.

"Well that would be Grant and Marshall" Smith said studying the picture he'd been given "You don't think they stole it do ya? Loyal workers they are"

"Mister Smith I'd like to have a look at Marshall and Grants work station" Catherine said. The man grunted and gave her some directions before the female CSI left the room and Grissom and Vega continued to question the unreasonably angry owner.

Catherine ended up in an old, shack like room with all sorts of power tools and DIY supplies. She pulled out her torch, not really sure what she was looking for, any kind of clue would be good. As she steeped further into the room, the redhead heard something shuffling behind her, she spun round in time to see a shadow move behind a shelf stacked high with barrels of tar.

"Hey!" she called darting forward and drawing her gun, but the shadow ran, pushing the shelf as it did so, and sending its contents plummeting towards Catherine.

* * *

Nick woke up with a groan. His head and eyes still felt heavy, like he'd been a sleep for 100 years, and he wished he could sleep for 100 more, because it was far better than facing his new reality. He smelt burning, just like in his dream, so that part was real… he sat up abruptly and found his hands tied behind his back as he was strapped to a chair.

About 10 foot in front of him sat Greg in a similar position, but he was still unconscious. The difference being, surrounding Greg was 5 candles, flames burning bright as they cast an eerie silhouette on the young lab tech. It reminded Nick of some weird sacrifice or ritual you hear about in stories. He didn't like that one bit.

"Greg" the CSI hissed as they appeared to be alone. How the hell had they even got here? Those bastards must have done something to them when they were sleeping. "Come on man please wake up. I know you don't want to, but I need you"

"Mmm…" the lab tech groaned as he started to open his eyes.

In the back of Greg's mind he had heard someone calling for him, he thought whoever it was were angry because he'd fallen asleep in his lab and they were waiting for results, but then he remembered. He didn't want to remember.

"Greg, are you alright?" Nick asked. _Of course not you idiot! _He expected the younger man to yell, but Greg gave a weak nod of his head.

"S'burnin'" Greg mumbled "W's burnin'

"There are candles surrounding you" Nick informed him gently, he needed the kid to stay calm.

"W-what?" Greg said looking around him as he slowly came to his senses "No, not fire, oh God not the fire, not again…" he shied away from the flames sitting as far back into the chair as possible.

"Greg what are you talking about?" the worried CSI asked. He knew it was bad because the younger man had started to shake beyond control yet again. Nobody liked fire really, he just wondered why Greg's fear was so strong.

"I was in a house fire when I was twelve" Greg confessed much to Nick's surprise. Why was this the first time he'd been told? "And my back…I have really bad b-burn scars on my back" he continued, his voice hitching a little. "I just remember the smoke…the smell…my mom screaming for me….the fear" his eyes glazed over with tears as he remembered the trauma.

"Oh Greggo, why didn't you tell us?" Nick said giving the frightened man a sympathetic look.

"You didn't ask" Greg said with a small smile in an attempt to calm himself down "I just… didn't think it was anything to you, I thought you wouldn't care. It happened a long time ago and I should be over it by now… but fire still scares me and that makes me feel weak. God I'm so embarrassed" he said lowering his head in shame.

"Greg, you can't expect to get over stuff like that so quick" Nick comforted him "Childhood traumas are the worst…" he paused; wondering now would be the time to tell Greg. But _if_ they was going to die, Nick felt he should get it off his chest and maybe the tech would find solace in knowing he could relate. "When I was nine, I had this babysitter who I thought I could trust…but then one night, she…did things to me that I didn't really understand back then." Greg's eyes widened in horror. "And I still think about it sometimes, what you went through was obviously terrible and it doesn't matter how much later it is, talking about sometimes will help."

"Nick I'm so sorry" Greg said, for some reason he felt guilty but that was just part of his natural instinct "I can't even imagine what that must have been like. Now my problem just seems stupid" he said with a frown.

"It's not a contest Greg, anything that's happened to you which has scared you is bad not matter where it is on the Richter scale." Nick explained. It wasn't normally like him to be so profound, that was Grissoms job, but he needed Greg to keep it together and he'd been doing well so far.

"Well thanks for telling me, I know it must have been hard for you" Greg said with a comforting smile, which Nick returned as if to say _you too_. "But Nick… there's only one possible thing these candles are for…." Greg's eyes traced over each individual flame, the way they danced like they were teasing him "he's gunna burn me" the scared young man whispered as a tear trailed down his left cheek.

"No, no I won't let that happen" Nick said, he'd already been trying to break the binds on his wrists the whole time they'd been talking. He felt the bad rope burn on his wrists which had made his skin go pink, but it was worth it if it meant getting free and helping Greg.

"Hey, its ok" Greg told him quietly "You'll only get yourself hurt. I know I might moan and cry, but I rather it was me than you."

"No" Nick said shaking his head "No, no, no!" he was getting angrier as he kept yanking at the bindings harder and harder. "No I won't let you down anymore" he protested "I can't, I just can't" then it was his turn to cry. "It's killing me to see what they're doing to you."

"Well you can't feel like that because that's what Seth wants" Greg told him "don't give him what he wants. You have _not_ let me down ok. You're not Superman Nick, you're not the one doing this to me, Seth and his stupid sidekicks are. I know you want to help me, and just knowing that is enough, that's what helps me through the pain. Because I know I can't leave you here with them"

Nick wondered when the kid had become so brave, not that he thought Greg was a wimp before, far from it, but he couldn't help but think about how Greg got nervous just from talking to Grissom. And now here he was, facing torture…death, and he was telling Nick everything was going to be ok. Nick opened his mouth to say something in return but the door crept open and in came Seth, smiling sadistically as always.

"Hey boys, nice to see you've managed to get dry" Seth said walking over to Greg "I hope the candles helped, but of course that's not their only purpose." He said stroking the side of Greg's face with a gentle hand. Greg was surprised at himself for what happened next as he spat in Seth's face. Seth recoiled in disgust "Why you dirty little…" he slapped Greg hard.

"Don't act like you don't deserve it, I'm surprised I haven't done it already" Nick growled behind the kidnapper, earning the CSI a slap across the face too.

"And I was thinking about going a little easier on you, but now you can forget it" Seth said through gritted teeth as he wiped his face. "You stay quiet!" he yelled pointing at Nick. "You're just here to watch, that is your torture." He turned back to Greg. "Each one of these candles represents one of your friends" Seth said pointing at each candle, now they understood why there was five. "They have not yet had to burn for their sins, and so you will burn for them" Seth whispered in Greg's ear. The young man whimpered and turned away.


	11. Chapter 10: Unatoned Sins

**A/N: Ta Dah! I'm back, it's finally here! :D I am so sorry for such a long delay but life keeps getting in the way, coursework here and exams there, it's all too much, but never enough to stop me from writing eventually ! Thank you so much for all the amazing feedback on the last chapter and I really hope this one was worth the wait :) I hope you like!**

**Also, the wait is over… CSI FINALLY STARTED IN THE UK! *dances* what a fantastic pilot episode it was too, so gripping :)**

**Anyway, let me know what you think as always :) xx**

* * *

**Chapter 10: Unatoned Sins**

"Please I'm begging you, please don't do this!" Nick implored as he struggled with his bindings "Why can't you just use me instead?"

"Because you're tough and he's not" Seth said grabbing Greg's hair and pulling his head back hard, the young man whimpered "and I like to watch him squirm" the sadistic man whispered, he was so close to Greg's face the lab tech could feel his torturers warm breath on his own deathly cold cheek.

"I am tough" Greg retorted "Or else I'd be dead by now and you'd have won. But I'll never give up because I won't ever leave Nick here alone with you, and I know our friends are looking for us. I just want to see the look on your face when you're taken to prison for the rest of your life, or even better…the chair"

It was the most daring thing he'd said so far and he half expected another slap, but he and Nick were both surprised when Seth just smiled "I think I'm starting to like this feisty side" he said. He then turned away and picked up the first candle. "Now let's see… Warrick first I think, easy one to start with. Responsible for Holly Gibbs death and a severe gambling problem which he fails to admit to… that's two sins and that means two sins you must burn for"

"Bring it" Greg said through gritted teeth.

After the house fire, he had spent many hours as a child in some therapist's room, the old balding man trying to get him to talk, but Greg had become mute for at least 6 months after. Hours that man had spent trying to get him to talk, hours Greg had to endure hearing about methods of overcoming his fear of fire and nothing worked. Not until he became a lab tech in fact, and met the rest of the team, did his fears lessen. And Nick had been part of the solution, so the lab tech sure as hell wasn't going to let his friend down. It was just going to hurt like a mother…

"Don't do this!" Nick yelled but he continued to be unheard.

"Oh, confident are we?" Seth said bobbing down in front of Greg and reaching for the young man's shirt. Greg tried to shrink back into the chair but of course that didn't work. The kidnapper lifted the lab techs shirt and brought the candle close, stopping as the flame just about wavered near Greg's skin. That heat was enough. "May God forgive him" Seth said before pushing the flame against Greg's skin.

And Greg, to his surprise as much as Seth's did not scream. He did not cry, and he did not beg for it to stop. He just gritted his teeth and bared it. He was sick of this bastard getting his own way and was not going to give him the satisfaction of his weakness anymore, Greg just hoped he could hold out until the end. He had to bite down on his lip the second time as Seth pushed the flame against him harder, not satisfied that he had yet to break the young man.

"Hmm… this was unexpected" Seth said as he set the candle down and looked at the newly formed red welts on Greg's abdomen. "We'll just have to try harder next one" he grinned taking the next candle.

Nick had closed his eyes, he couldn't bare it, and he was just waiting for the scream. But it never came and for a split second he wondered if it was because Greg was dead so he opened his eyes wide again. What he saw horrified him, but he couldn't be more proud with the younger man for not giving Seth what he wanted. He was impressed with Greg's strength and wasn't really sure if he'd be so strong himself.

"Well done Greg, I'm proud of you, just hold on I'll get out" Nick said still struggling with his binds, unbeknownst to him that he'd been trying so hard his wrists had begun to bleed form the rope cutting against them.

"Thanks" Greg replied with a weak smile.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that Tex" Seth said with his back to the CSI "Don't make me call Grant in here to restrain you."

Nick had to fight the urge to scoff "Please, I ain't afraid of that dunderhead. If he was any better than me he would have got the job and I wouldn't"

"Alright, you know what, I was going to let you watch but I think Grant would argue against what you just said so I'll let him have you now" Seth said as he went to the door and opened it, the huge man had been standing guard outside. "Grant, take Tex back to the room, and then do with him as you wish" Seth instructed.

"With pleasure" Grant grinned as he ripped Nick from his bindings, causing the CSI to grimace and he was dragged away with the giant man's arm wrapped around his neck.

"No!" Nick struggled trying to break free and get to Greg, who was ironically trying to break free to go to Nick's assistant.

The thought at what Grant might do to his friend was enough to make Greg fight harder than he had before. His own pain, he could take, but not that of someone he cared about. He was starting to understand how Nick felt.

"Get him out of here!" Seth commanded, extremely annoyed by the interruption. He'd been looking forward to this all day.

Grant squeezed Nick around his waist and the CSI cried out in pain at the disruption to his broken rib. The sharp and excruciating sensation was enough to distract him from fighting and the giant of a man finally managed to drag a rather limp Nick out of the room.

Greg hated himself for not being able to break free in time and help. But ever since he'd been dumped here he'd been feeling more than useless. The young man finally subdued his sudden rage and hung his head breathing heavily. Although he did not want Nick to see him being tortured, he couldn't help but feel the older man had been his source of motivation to be brave, keep quiet and take it. But now he was gone and Greg was, for the first time, well and truly alone with the crazed psychopath.

"Right, now we can move on" Seth said picking up the next candle "Catherine…oh no she's perfect right? Wrong" he said swiping his hand through the flame, as if feeling the urge to prove the fire is real. "She is extremely bossy, rude, doesn't respect her superiors and I know she sometimes gives out… favours in order to gain information. Slut."

"You lying Bastard, Catherine would never do that" Greg spat. Now he was just pissed again. Catherine was a second mom to him, had looked after him since he arrived in Vegas only a year ago. Nobody was allowed to insult her like that. Now he would have to start breaking some necks when he got the chance.

"You believe whatever you wanna believe" Seth said circling round so he was behind Greg, and before the young man knew it a hot sting signalled a burn on his forearm.

The lab tech grunted but he still would not scream. Although Nick wasn't there anymore, Greg was sick of being pushed around and he wouldn't be seen as a victim by Seth, or Nick, anymore. There was another burn on his bicep, this one was twisted into his skin, but Greg just tried to think happy thoughts. And at the moment those happy thoughts were shoving Seth's head into a blender. The next burn was on the front of his shoulder, this one didn't hurt much. Greg wondered if he was numbing to the pain. This was both a good and bad thing.

"Not gunna give me what I want eh?" Seth said with a sigh as he blew out the second candle and threw it to the side. "I'll have to improve my technique" he said picking up the next candle "Sara…" he said almost stroking the flame as he traced the outline with his finger. "Your precious Sara. She doesn't notice you does she Greggo..."

"Don't call me Greggo!" the young man all but yelled.

"Why, is that only what your friends call you? But I am your friend Greggo; I'm pointing out all your others flaws. Sara, she's feisty… a little _too _feisty if you ask me, dangerous, _completely _unfair and biased towards male suspects. Sexist bitch."

"Don't you dare talk about her like that!" Greg yelled, the first time he'd really yelled and asserted himself. Sara had done everything for him even though she'd only been with the team for a few months. She was Greg's best friend, and he'd be damned if anyone dare talked badly of her, she was far too kind.

"Ohh, I definitely hit a nerve with that one" Seth grinned. "You obviously like her… but she doesn't like you….shame" he said gripping Greg's chin tight and pulling his head up "See I think you have such a pretty little face" he forced his lips onto Greg's and the young man yelped in surprise. He tried to back away, tip the chair over, anything, but Seth was relentless. Eventually the madman pulled away "Maybe if your face were to change a little.." he said bringing the candle to Greg's eye level "Sara would be more convinced" and with that he stubbed the flame into Greg's left cheek. Then for the first time, Greg screamed. Seth chuckled, pleased that he'd finally got what he wanted. He gave another burn to the young man's right temple just for good measure.

"They'll find you soon you know" Greg rasped "my friends will find you. They'll take me and Nick home and you…they'll kill you." He wouldn't put it past Warrick in particular to do it with his bare hands.

"Yes well…we'll see about that" Seth said placing the candle down and picking up a fresh one "Now Grissom… is he a friend? Or just the boss…"

"Grissom has no so called sins" Greg mumbled, he doubted the supervisor had ever done anything bad in his life. Greg looked up to the man like no one else, and in his eye Grissom could do no wrong, he was the young man's role model and that's why the supervisor made Greg so nervous.

"Oh, really?" Seth said raising an eyebrow and gazing at the flame "because I think a responsible supervisor would look after the new girl and make sure she wasn't killed on her first night, wouldn't you agree?"

"That was not Grissoms fault" Greg said through gritted teeth "and it wasn't Warrick's either!" he defended his friend.

"He doesn't _really_ care about any of you does he? You're just his little scientific soldiers ready to do his bidding. And for that, his sin is neglect. Neglect of how his team is feeling and how they are looked after" he took the flame, rolling up the right leg of Greg's jeans and dotting the flame all the way down so a trail of circular burns was left behind. Greg managed to keep his mouth shut that time.

"Mmm so we've got that confidence back have we?" Seth mocked as he picked up the last candle "Now this…this is the one I've been looking forward to" he said outlining the flame with his hand "Nicky, Nick, Nicholas… well he's the worst of all. Letting the near boy take this torture all for his sake…not being able to save you. Just letting you…hearing you…watching you suffer" he was whispering by the end. "Oh and he meddles, a lot."

"He is not _letting_ me suffer, I wouldn't be surprised if he was trying to kick Grant's head in right now so that he could try and help me. I am glad it's me going through this and not him. He's proud of me for fighting. And that's all I need to know." Greg was pleased with his words, he would not let Nick down and Seth knew that now, which just seemed to irk his tormentor even further.

"We'll just agree to disagree" Seth said bluntly, Greg could tell he was r_eally _annoyed now. "Now, where shall this one go" he said holding the flame frighteningly close to Greg's eye.

_He can't be serious?!_ Greg's head was screaming. But then Seth lowered the flame and went to lift Greg's shirt once more, all the way up to his shoulders. He brought the flame to above Greg's heart "this is just because I _really_ don't like Nick." And the flame went down. For Greg, it may as well have been a knife, because that was how it felt. His heart started to beat so fast he feared it would jump out of his chest. He screamed worse than he had when the flame had touched his face.

"You see if that heart of yours weren't so big, then maybe this wouldn't be happening to you" Seth said tossing the candle aside.

Greg toppled forward in the chair, resting his chin on his chest and cried. He felt like some poor animal which had just been sent for branding, Seth's mark now permanently on his skin, a way of calming his ownership of Greg for eternity. But then again, branding often led to death and so Greg suspected he wouldn't be on the earth much longer. It was the most painful experience yet and now… now he kind of wished for death, because that seemed like the only escape. He was finally starting to lose that optimism he was so renowned for. But he couldn't leave Nick alone in this place. Not ever. He would make sure Nick was ok but then… then he didn't care.

"Anyway, that was ok wasn't it?" Seth said with a gleeful smile as he began to untie Greg's red raw wrists.

Greg knew he should try and make a run for it, but he couldn't leave without Nick and there was no way he'd get past Grant. Besides, he could barely stand as he felt like passing out any moment. He was shakily dragged to his feet by Seth who pinned Greg's right arm behind his back before being walked out of the room. They walked through several corridors before stopping outside the all too familiar door. Grant was stood outside, his fists were clenched and he looked utterly pissed. But there was something else… _his fists_, Greg realised with growing fear… they were covered in blood. _Nick._

"I see you've been having some fun of your own" Seth said also acknowledging the stains.

Grant scoffed, but there was a hint of a smile "You could say that" he mumbled.

"You Bastard" Greg whispered as his eyes grew wide with fear. The pain in his own body no longer mattered "What did you do to him?!" he demanded to know.

"See for yourself" the huge man grunted as he heaved the door open and Seth carelessly flung Greg inside before the door was slammed closed again.

Greg landed on his hands and knees with a groan, he tried to focus on the floor and stop the world for spinning. That's when he heard it, the shallow breathing. It sounded a little like his own after the young man had been drowned. Greg didn't dare to lift his head… he couldn't. But knew he _had_ to, because Nick had been there for him and now he needed Greg. The younger man shakily raised his head and gasped. His arms which had been holding him up buckled beneath him at the sight of the beaten, bloody and unconscious man before him.

"Nick"


	12. Chapter 11: The Pinnacle

**A/N: Hey! I updated with the week which is a miracle for me, but I didn't want to leave it as long as last time. Thank you sooo much for the reviews you awesome people, but thanks for the silent readers too, I hope you're still enjoying this story, my most alerted yet!  
So… we go back to the prologue in this one, I changed it a little for purposes you'll see when you read… but are the team getting close?**

**Read and Review if it's not too much :) xx**

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**Chapter 11**: **The Pinnacle**

Catherine managed to dodge the flying barrels by pressing herself up against the wall; they rolled across the room as she watched the hooded figure rush across the construction yard. _Oh no you don't_ Catherine thought determinedly as she started to go in pursuit. This bastard could be the only connection they had to finding out where Nick and Greg where, so there was no way in _hell_ she was going to let him escape.

Catherine chased the man in and out the various trucks in the yard, she ran through some of the workshops, jumping over tools and boxes as she did so. She hadn't gotten into a chase like this for years but she kept her concentration and kept her eyes trained on the back of the mysterious figure.

Eventually they ran into a small scale warehouse with only one entrance and exit, this one was piled high with planks of wood. No doubt the culprit was hiding behind one of them. Catherine pulled out her torch and raised her gun before slowly walking around the room, checking behind every pile and every corner. Until eventually, she came to the last pile, and that's where she found the hooded figure crouched down like they were ready to pounce.

Catherine pointed her gun "Where are Greg and Nick you son of a bitch!?" she demanded. There was no time to be professional now, and to be honest she didn't want to be, not to this jack ass. He messed with the boys she considered her sons and she wanted to rip his throat out.

The man sprung up and jumped at Catherine, knocking her to the ground. The CSI landed with a groan and her gun slipped from her grip. She watched in horror as the figure grabbed it and pinned her to the floor. He placed the gun on Catherine's forehead. A shot was fired.

The figure cried out in pain and clung to his shoulder where the bullet had lodged itself. Detective Vega and Grissom ran foreword, Vega holstering his gun. The detective grabbed the assailant and handcuffed him whilst Grissom helped Catherine to her feet.

"You ok?" he asked, and Catherine nodded her head, not taking her eyes off the man.

Vega pulled down the man's hood "Marshall Rodriguez" he stated and Rodriguez just narrowed his eyes. "We're taking you away for a _long _time."

"And if you don't tell us were Nick and Greg are… I swear it'll be the chair for you" Catherine said with venom in her voice. For the first time, Marshall Rodriguez was the one who was scared.

* * *

"Nick!" Greg exclaimed as he stumbled over to his friend.

Nick was lying on his back and breathing heavily. Blood ran from his broken nose and split lip. His right eye was blue and swollen and his hair was clumped together with blood. There was blood on his knuckles too, but they weren't cut, so Nick had managed to get in a few punches of his own. _Of course he_ did Greg couldn't help but think with a small smile. He lifted Nick's shirt to see several other bruises and he definitely now had more than one broken rib.

"Nick I know you don't want to but please wake up" Greg said stroking his friend's hair "I just need to know you're still there… and I need _you_ to know_ I'm_ still here."

"Gr…" Nick's lips parted a little "Greg-go" he said quietly.

"Yeah I'm here buddy" the lab tech said with a smile, a tear dropped from his eyes in relief "What am I going to do with you huh? I leave you for five minutes…"

"I…left…you" Nick rasped as he opened his eyes. Greg looked like a blur as he leaned over the older man.

"No you didn't, of course you didn't" the younger man reassured him.

"Dead?" Nick asked with a harsh cough.

"No" Greg said with a small laugh "No we're not dead" the pain all over his body was reminding him of that.

His burnt skin felt tight and sore, and he could still smell the burning, but he wondered if that was just his imagination. The thought that his face maybe permanently scarred made the young man want to cry, but he needed to focus on Nick now. He helped the older man sit up, and Nick sat with his back leant against the wall. Greg sat in front of him.

"What happened?" the younger man asked as he used some of the clothing earlier used to clean his old blood to try and clean some of Nick's.

"I didn't want to leave you alone with that psychopath. I wanted it to be me and not you." Greg sighed, the extent of Nick's selflessness never failed to amaze him. "I tried to get to you, I tried to fight…but Grant obviously fought back, and I lost." He looked at Greg who was now beginning to come more into focus. "I shouldn't have let this happen; I should have got to you. I'm…"

"Don't" Greg firmly stated "Don't say you're sorry anymore ok. You're not the one doing this to me, Seth is. Now let me take care of you for once."

Nick groaned. He ached all over, he felt like he'd been hit with a car. He'd never fought so hard in his life. He knew he wouldn't win, how could he? Grant was huge, but he'd battle a tank full of Sharks if it meant saving Greg.

"Your face" Nick said in utter awe as Greg finally came into focus "He burnt your face!"

"Yes, I was there Nick" Greg said sarcastically with roll of his eyes, but he realised how spiteful that might sound "Sorry, I didn't mean it like…"

"I'll kill him" Nick said looking Greg in the eye "I swear I'll kill him"

"Well just make sure you save some for Warrick" Greg said with a small smile and Nick smiled back. The Texan wrapped his arm around Greg and pulled him towards him in a one arm hug.

"I am proud of you, did I tell you that?" he said.

"Yeah" Greg said "Yeah you did, and I'm proud of you too"

They stayed in silence for a while just thinking. Thinking about whether they would be found any time for soon, but one thing they did know for sure was that Sara, Catherine and Grissom would never, _ever_ give up on them.

The door being opened snapped them back to reality. This time it was Greg who held a protective arm out across Nick. The young man glared at Grant with pure hatred, the giant of a man just snarled.

"What now?" Greg cried "What else could you possibly do to us!"

"Oh you'd be surprised" Seth said with a knowing smile. "It appears your little friends have got Marshall… we might not have much time left."

Nick and Greg both smiled at this. It was the most incredible news they'd ever had, the team were closing in on Seth and his sick games….but that could mean the time Seth had left to get rid of them was growing short.

"So we best have as much fun as possible" Seth grinned like an excited child.

Neither Greg nor Nick had the strength to fight as Seth and Grant started to drag them from the room once more.

* * *

Warrick and Sara were still at Seth's home, currently upstairs in the psychopath's bedroom. They had found nothing of real use so far. They'd confiscated all Seth's disgusting torture instruments and taken down the bodies of the dead animals, but there was nothing to indicate where Nick and Greg could possibly be.

Sara was on her knees rummaging through the bedside drawers. She sighed in frustration as she closed the middle draw and felt like crying. She felt like she was letting her brothers down by not being able to find anything and that made her mad and scared.

Warrick hadn't had any luck either and he too was getting mad at himself, but not as mad as he was at the bastards who'd been putting them through this. He wanted to comfort Sara, he really did, but Warrick was about ready to admit that he too needed comforting. He'd never been so close to tears in his life.

The sound of his phone ringing broke the unnerving silence; he went out into the hall to answer it whilst Sara continued searching as she was looking in the last drawer now. She wasn't really paying attention just absentmindedly flicking through. _Documents, documents, certificate, picture…_ she studied the photo a little closer, there was writing in the corner.

It was a picture of Seth when he was a teenager the CSI could tell. He was stood with another man, his father presumably, and Seth's sister. They were in the desert, stood in front of an old bunker. Sara read the writing.

_Kids, I know we've had our differences over the years, but this is the place that I worked and helped out at during the war. I had some bad times, and some times. But I showed you it because it's safe. It's a safe place, whenever you're sad, or scared, or angry. Think of this safe place and it will always help you through, it helped me a lot.  
Love Dad._

"Oh My God" Sara whispered her eyes going wide. This could be it the clue they'd been waiting for. "Warrick!" she called, the male CSI came running.

"What is it? What's wrong?" he asked in panic by Sara's yelling, but she was grinning.

"I think I've got a _massive_ clue at where Greg and Nick might be" she handed the picture to Warrick and for the first time in days he smiled.

"Well this just gets better… that was Grissom on the phone, he and Catherine have caught Rodriguez"

Sara smiled "Well then we better get back to the lab…"

* * *

Greg was taken to some metal chains on the wall by Seth and attached there so he was facing the wall and his back was facing his torturer. He started thrashing about immediately trying to escape. Nick was kept at least 10ft away being held by Grant, he too was trying to escape. Seth pulled a knife out of his pocket and moved towards Greg.

"No!" Nick yelled but Seth used the knife to cut away the remains of Greg's shirt.

The torturer gasped "Oh these scars" he said kneeling down and tracing his finger down the old white marks on Greg's back, the young man shuddered and whimpered. "They're beautiful" Seth said, he started to kiss Greg's back.

"S-stop" Greg pleaded with tears streaming, if this was going to happen he didn't want Nick to see.

"What are you doing? Stop you freak!" Nick demanded. He could see where this may be going. And he'd be damned if he let it.

"Now, now" Seth said touching the scars one last time before standing back and almost admiring Greg like he were a piece of art "They'll be time later, but this my ultimate stimulus, the ultimate torture that will being CSI down to their knees." He smiled. He walked to the corner of the room and brought something from the shadows.

It was a whip. A long, thin and torturous whip. Both Nick and Greg's eyes went wide, the young lab tech felt like he was going to pass out.

"Greg!" Nick cried as Grant, the massive dunderhead, had to try and restrain him. The Texan fought and fought against his iron grip. Nick wouldn't ever give up, not ever, he didn't care what happened to him he just had to protect his friend and he would do anything.

"Nick!" the young lab tech called back with tears streaming down his face "Help me! Oh God please help!" he cried as he thrashed around in the metal bindings. The metal cut like blades into the young man's skin but he didn't care, he had to escape he knew he wouldn't be able to take what was coming, he just wouldn't.

"Greg everything will be alright" Nick tried to calm him just a little "I'm coming to help you I promise!" he kicked at the Grant, bit him, the man started to bleed a little but still he wouldn't let go. _Probably because he's not human_ Nick thought with sarcastic bitterness.

Greg wanted to believe Nick, he wanted to hold out. He just wished he could be as strong as the Texan, he just wished he wouldn't be such a wimp. He could speak no longer. As for Nick, all he could hear coming from the young man was heart wrenching sobs as still both friends tried to escape. Greg was shaking so badly he hoped that he might just pass out, and then maybe he wouldn't feel anything? _Yeah right_ he thought bitterly.

He remembered back to when he was twelve and how he had fallen out the window…the fire…it had burned…but he knew this was going to burn a whole lot worse. Fresh new scars to add to his collection, scars that would make sure that he would never forget. The young lab tech had never been so scared in his life.

"I'll kill you!" Nick yelled at the man who was slowly approaching Greg's relentlessly shaking back. The CSI had never been so angry in his life…he'd never been so truthful in his words either and it kind of scared him; there was so much venom in them. "I swear to God I will kill you with my own hands, I will watch as what little soul you have leaves your eyes, I will make your last breath agonisingly painful and I will enjoy it!"

"Your words are useless" the man said inspecting his weapon and holding it up to the light, he wasn't fazed by the threats at all. He smiled "It's been a long time" he said stroking the murderous thing in his hands.

"Please!" Nick yelled as his own tears began to flow and his anger seemed to subside a little as the reality of the situation hit him "Please I'm begging you use me instead, I'm begging you!" he couldn't watch the sick bastard do this to his friend, his little 24 year old brother who he still considered a kid. Nick would never forgive himself for not being able to save him, and he didn't want Greg to forgive him.

"N-n-no" a shaky voice spoke, not the person Nick was expecting "N-no Nick… I won-won't let him hu-hurt you. I owe y-ou s-so much." Greg said looking at the floor, he'd given up struggling and accepted his cruel and twisted fate.

"Aww how noble of you" the man said as he appeared by the petrified lab rat's side and whispered in his ear "Shame really, I always felt a special connection between us" he kissed the young lab tech lightly on the neck before turning away. Greg closed his eyes and bit his lip as tears continued to escape. "Your pleading is useless. I have always been complimented for my art, and now I see the art of torture is something that greatly interests me..." he said with a sadistic smirk, and loud enough so Nick could hear. "I am a perfectionist and I will have my perfect revenge on you CSI scum!" he yelled. By this point Greg had started to whisper prayers to himself; the man heard him and laughed. "No God can save you now… "He chuckled pleased at how scared the pathetic kid was.

"No!" Nick yelled again as he watched in utter furry and fear and the man prepared to strike "Please no!"

Greg cried Nick's name. The Texan gasped as a horrifying crack ran through the air, it made him feel sick. The whip had made contact with the lab tech's bare and vulnerable back.

Greg Screamed.


	13. Chapter 12: Time

**A/N: Hey guys, hoping you are well :) Thank you sooo much for reading and reviewing, I'm glad you're still enjoying! So the angst gets turned up a WHOLE lot here, hopefully the height of angstyness, so I hope you love because I was really pleased with this chapter :) I hope no one is too OC. Enjoy!**

**P.S: New CSI tomorrow UK, Greg episode, can't wait! **

**Please Review :) xx**

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**Chapter 12: Time**

_Five year old Greg Sanders ran through the playing field after the pretty butterfly. It had Blue wings with black spots on and the curious little boy desperately wanted to catch it and look closer. His mother had not yet realised Greg had wondered off. The little boy giggled excitedly as he slipped through the branches of a bush to find the butterfly. He was sad when he got to other side and realised it had gone. _

_He decided to climb a nearby tree to try and find it again; he jumped for the first branch and managed to swing himself up. He climbed higher and higher, the sun was just about setting. Eventually he grew too scared to go any further and stopped. He placed a hand over his eyes to shield his vision and looked around hoping to see the butterfly, or a bird. _

_Instead he heard someone scream his name. His mother. The little boy looked down he gasped. His mother looked so small, and to the small child it looked a hell of a long way down. He got scared, panicked. His foot slipped. He fell._

_The next thing he felt was pain all over his body. Greg screamed, his mother cried. He hurt, he hurt all over. The last thing the boy saw was the beautiful butterfly flapping its wings… and then everything went black._

* * *

That was the first time Greg's mother had taken him to the hospital, and everything had spiralled downhill from there. That was the first time Greg had ever felt pain, or at least pain he remembered. That was the first time he had ever really been scared. But that was nothing…_nothing_, compared to what he was feeling at that moment as Seth prepared his whip once more. He was literally on the brink. It could have been on the brink of consciousness, but it felt more like the brink of death.

He didn't scream anymore. He couldn't, it was physically impossible. His throat once again felt like it was on fire, like it had been ripped to shreds. He didn't have the energy or the strength, so he just let the blows come. He had accepted death, and right now with the pain and the fear, he would quite gladly welcome it.

* * *

_Nick Stokes walked through the crime lab just over two years ago and knocked on Grissoms door. The supervisor summoned him in and Nick entered to find him sat at his desk with a young man sat opposite. The young man looked so nervous; there was paleness to his cheeks and a slight quiver in his manner. Nick smiled at the young man to let him know he was friendly, he wouldn't bite, and the young man gave a small twitchy smile back. _

_Nick handed the report over to Grissom he'd gone to deliver and Grissom suggested he take the nervous man for a tour of the lab, only saying he was new here. Nick happily agreed. The young man kept his arms tightly folded across his chest and his eyes frantically scanned every room of the building, it appeared to overwhelm him. The young man didn't say more than a few words as Nick talked to him about each room, the nervous kid would just smile and nod politely. _

_Nick was kind of worried about the kid. In his own knowledge people normally didn't talk much due to some traumatic experience. Eventually they came to Ecklie's office; the man stormed out, yelled at Nick for something the young CSI didn't really listen to, and then walked off._

"_I would really like to high five him in the face…with a shovel" Nick said with a deadly serious tone and the young man burst out laughing. So did Nick, the young man's laugh was infectious._

"_Wow, thanks for the tour" the young man grinned as he finally got his laughter under control. "I can see it's going to be fun working here" Nick smiled; it was the first complete sentence the man had said. "Thanks…"_

"_Nick, Nick Stokes" the CSI said shaking the young man's hand._

"_Greg Sanders" the young man replied._

* * *

From that first meeting Nick knew that he and Greg Sanders would be good friends. He knew that laugh and that smile would be the one thing that could pull him from the depths of despair after a hard case, or pulling a double shift. But he doubted Greg would laugh anymore. Whether his friend would ever smile again. Nick knew he himself wouldn't, not for a long time.

Over the past couple of years Nick had grown so close to the nervous young man, who was not so nervous anymore. Greg had really come out of his shell as he grew closer to his new friends and Nick… Nick had vowed to protect Greg, the guy he still saw as a kid, the guy he considered his little brother. But he had failed, that was what he told himself. There was no way he could make up for this, no way in hell. Nick _hated _himself, almost as much as he hated Seth and his cronies. He had let Greg down, failed to keep him safe, and now Greg's screams would haunt Nick forever.

Nick had never been so scared, not even when Amy Hendler had been pointing that gun in his face. Throughout the process of Greg being whipped, Nick had screamed himself a few times. He'd begged for Seth to stop, to let him take Greg's place, he'd do it in a heartbeat. Nick sobbed and fought to go rescue his friend. Eventually he gave in, Greg's screams were heart clenching, each one like a knife in Nick's chest, eventually the CSI fell to his knees.

"Greggo I'm sorry" he whispered over and over again "I'm so, so sorry."

Eventually Greg stopped screaming. Nick dared to look up and saw his friend hanging limply as Greg moved no more, just breathed heavily, the only sign Nick had that the young man was still alive. Nick felt the bile rise in his throat as he saw the utter blood bath Greg's back had become, there was barely any clear patches of skin left. Nick knew it would leave scars, scars that would never heal. But then there were the mental scars to consider too… because they would never heal either.

* * *

Brass was giving his trademark glare. The one that normally made most suspects shake in their boots and get them to admit to doing things that weren't even against the law. His eyes were deeply narrowed so he appeared to be trying to pierce the suspect's skin. His hands were tightly clasped in front of him and his jacket was pulled back slightly so his badge and gun were clearly visible. Marshall Rodriguez, however, was not talking.

Warrick and Catherine were also in the room. Warrick was leaned back against the wall, his arms folded and his glare was also burning down on Marshall. He remained somewhat in the shadows, just waiting for the man to slip up, to give Warrick one good reason to jump him and beat the living daylights out of him. He was physically shaking from anger. This man knew were his best friends were and he wasn't talking, Warrick was about ready to snap.

Catherine sat next to Brass, she was leant back in her chair looking like she could break down again at any minute. She was near close to begging, and Catherine Willows _never_ begged, but she wanted Greg and Nick back with the team, with their _family, _where they belonged. They were like sons to Catherine, she felt like a part of her heart had been ripped away. She was normally so strong, normally didn't take _any_ crap… but Nick and Greg were gone and the team being together was what gave her that strength.

Sara and Grissom were stood watching through the one way glass. Sara had tried to fight her way in, argued with Grissom that she would get Marshall to confess, but Grissom insisted she didn't. Sara stood with her arms slightly folded and her right fist held over her mouth, she kept it there to stop her from screaming. Just like Catherine, Sara also considered herself to be strong, but without Nick and Greg playing pranks on her all the time, it wasn't the same. She may have only been working with the team for a matter of months, but she already felt like part of the family, and she would always be grateful for that.

Grissom remained looking indifferent as always. His hands were clasped behind his back as he watched the solemn scene. Grissom was always in control and he always kept calm. But now even the man who could keep an exterior of stone felt like he was falling apart inside. Ever since Holly Gibb's death, Grissom had started to slightly doubt his ability as supervisor, but now he had lost both Nick and Greg he felt like he'd let them down, his whole team down. He needed to get Nick and Greg because he couldn't bear to think of them suffering any longer. It shouldn't have taken this long.

Sara sniffed slightly beside him and wiped her eyes. Grissom gave a quick glance over to her. He couldn't be there to give Nick and Greg his support, but he could be there for Sara right now. The older man cautiously reached out a hand, withdrew it slightly, but then cautiously and gently placed it on Sara's shoulder and gave it a quick squeeze. Sara turned and gave him a small smile.

Both heads snapped round when a crash came from within the interrogation room.

* * *

Seth was growing wary of this game and he wondered if he should just get it over with, let the kid die, have some more fun with Nick and then leave him in the middle of the desert to rot. At first, Greg's screams had pleasured Seth just to prove what a sick individual he truly was. The sound of Nick sobbing for his friend was like music to the maniac's ears. This is exactly what he wanted. He had wanted to cause that group of CSI's so much pain and suffering that they felt like they were trying to fight the flames of hell. It had worked. Nick was a broken man and Greg… well he wasn't up to much anymore.

Then Greg had stopped screaming. Seth stopped and stood back to admire his handy work. Deep red gashes were now splattered all over the young man's trembling back, the blood loss would take him sooner or later, but then again Greg's strength so far had impressed the sick psychopath. As he watched the young man's back go still and his head slump forward, he realised this was boring him now if the kid wasn't even going to stay awake and endure it. He should end it soon, leave the country and start a fresh. But for now he needed to think of a perfect way to end them.

"Take him back to the room" Seth said bluntly indicating to Nick. The Texan was feeling too weak to fight and so he was easily pulled away.

Seth swayed over to Greg and was surprised to see that the young man's eyes were open, even if it was just a little. Greg was looking at the floor, refusing to look at his torturer's face. He breathed heavily through his nose and let his feet slip from underneath him.

"I admire you, you know" Seth said leaning on the wall beside Greg "I know I wouldn't have been able to put up with it. What I went through as a child was…minor, in comparison. I'm jealous too, it's nice that you have people who care about you, Nick would clearly die for you… and I bet the others have never stopped searching." He looked at Greg "I didn't want this to happen you know, they just got in the way."

Greg slowed turned his head at this, he seemed to look Seth up and down. He stopped when he met Seth's eyes for the first time; they seemed soulless just to look at. Greg gritted his teeth to try and bite back the pain.

"Drop. Dead." And he let his head fall forward once more.

Seth didn't say anything, just waited for Grant to come back. "Take him too, be careful of his fragile little frame" the leader commanded as he strutted away.

He had plans to make.

* * *

Greg wasn't really aware that he was being moved. His back had gone numb from the pain and he knew that was a bad sign. His hearing had gone muffled and his vision slightly blurry. He barely heard the door open, and instead of being thrown carelessly down as usual, he was placed down rather gently. Greg was grateful for the cold stone floor on his back like never before. He rolled his head along the floor to see a blurred figure moving towards him.

"N-n...Nick" he mumbled quietly.

"Ssh, don't talk Greg, just rest ok" Nick said with tears in his eyes as he sat down beside his friend and stroked his hair. "I'm so sorry Greg"

"Don't" Greg said trying to look Nick in the eyes. "Don't" he slipped his hand over to Nick's and took hold of it, before pulling it to rest on his own chest. "Nick… I can't…anymore…pain…"

"I know Greggo, but just hang on, just a little longer" Nick begged, but he was beginning to think he was asking too much.

"If we don't… found…in next hour… want you…let me…die"

Nick was shocked "No… no please, please don't say that don't, don't do this" Nick pleaded. Listening to his little brother beg for death was something Nick _never _wanted to experience. He couldn't let it happen. He wouldn't.

"Fight….for now…but ready…to die…soon" Greg said as his head rolled to one side. 'M' sorry…coward…but can't"

'No, no you're not a coward" Nick said squeezing Greg's hand tight and never wanting to let go "and we're going to get out. In this hour. I promise." Tears were streaming and they felt never ending.

Greg nodded. He turned to the window and saw something unusual. A blur of black and blue. He wasn't sure if it was real, or just some weird hallucination brought on by the pain, but he let the corners of his lips turn up just a little.

"Butterfly" he breathed before everything went black.


	14. Chapter 13: Last Minute

**A/N: Heyy guys! Thank you so much for reading and reviewing, it means a lot! Wow, I'm so grateful you're stilling carrying on with this story! Few more chapters to go ;) Anyway, I hope you enjoy, bit of a filler if I'm honest, but big things to come next chapter!**

* * *

**Chapter 13: Last Minutes **

Warrick had snapped. He'd been waiting, _waiting_ for chance to punch Marshall's lights out, to wrap his hands around the bastard's throat and squeeze. He couldn't take it anymore, this guy _knew _where Greg and Nick were, but he wouldn't tell them. He was playing with them, mocking them, and _laughing_ at them.

"Where are Nick and Greg?" Brass had asked for what seemed like the thousandth time.

He'd tried making deals with Marshall, threatened to send him to the chair…but none of it had been working. The man was adamant on keeping quiet. Brass hated how these criminals seemed to have some kind of secret oath between each other that stopped them from being snitches. He wanted to find Greg and Nick too. Brass had been Nick's mentor and really seen the Texan come into his own, and although he didn't know Greg well, Brass knew he was a good kid.

Brass, Catherine and Warrick watched sternly as Marshall's eyes flickered up to the clock and then back to the detective "What's the point, huh? They'll be better off dead after the shit Set put them through, trust me."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Catherine asked aggressively clenching her fists.

"I mean right about now…." Marshall said as his eyes went back to the clock "I wouldn't be surprised if your boy Sanders was dead. And Tex ain't gunna be far behind."

That's when Warrick had flipped. He'd pushed through Brass and Catherine and launched himself over the table. He'd grabbed Marshall by the shoulders and shoved him to the ground.

"Where are they you son of bitch!?" he yelled, taking hold of Marshall's collar and slamming the bastards head against the floor "Tell us! Or I'll kill you right here, right now!" Why weren't Catherine and Brass trying to stop him? Maybe they approved of his methods…

Catherine grabbed the letter and photo Sara had found off the table "Is this where they are!? "She too asking in a raise voice "Are they at this bunker in the picture?"

"Yes!" Marshall choked as Warrick's hand threatened to grow tighter around his throat.

"Where is it?!" Warrick demanded.

"GPS…GPS!" the guy cried just wanting the muscular CSI to get off him. "The van, has a GPS in it, you'll find the coordination's!"

"Thank you for your cooperation, you stupid asshole" Warrick said with a sarcastic smile, slamming the guy's head against the floor one last time for good measure. Warrick jumped up and he and Catherine immediately ran from the room.

"Do I get time off my sentence or what?" Marshall asked as he sheepishly got up, rubbing his neck.

"Erm let me think about it…" Brass said, almost pretending to look into a thought bubble "Erm, no" he said with a smile as two officers came to take Marshall away "You're not going to see the outside world again" the detective said seriously, and he couldn't help but let the left corner of his lips twitch up a little at the look of horror on Marshall's face.

Catherine and Warrick ran into the garage to find Grissom and Sara already working on Marshall's van to remove the GPS. Grissom had requested Vega make sure the van was brought over before they left the builders yard.

"Got it!" Sara exclaimed excitedly, pulling the GPS unit from the dashboard "Let's get it to Archie"

Moments later and the four CSI's were waiting anxiously as Archie worked on trying to decipher the coordinates. Catherine and Grissom stared intently at the screen, whilst Sara noticed that Warrick was staying back a little. He leaned against the door frame with his arms folded and his head slightly bowed. Sara sighed and went to stand next to him.

"I can't believe I lost control like that" Warrick mumbled, not looking at the younger woman. "I've never… I was just so angry" he said with a frown.

"Hey, the guy deserved it" Sara said reassuringly. "He's taken our best friends away and he's telling us they're dead. Which is a lie by the way, I know it" she said confidently.

"Yeah, I know. Nick and Greg are too stubborn." Warrick said with a light laugh "They'll be looking out for each other. I just wish I'd done that batter in the first place" he said looking back at the floor "Nick's like my brother and Greg… well he's kind of hard to resent" he said with a small smile "He's a good kid."

Sara gave a small smile too and put a comforting hand on Warrick's shoulder. "I'm glad you did what you did, and I'm proud of all of us for keeping it together this long. The only think I am disappointed in is that I didn't get a fight with the bastard" she said seriously and Warrick laughed. It was the first time he had done so in a long time.

"Thanks Sara" he said with a small smile and she smiled back.

"We got it!" Archie suddenly exclaimed from the screen and Warrick and Sara dashed over to be with the others "printing co-ordinates now"

"Great, let's go" Grissom instructed as the four CSI's headed for the hallway "Catherine, call Brass and tell him to bring some cops. Sara, get and ambulance and possibly a med helicopter."

"On it" Sara said as she found her phone.

"We found them Griss" Warrick said with a smile "we found them."

"Yeah, yeah we did" Grissom said, he daren't not believe it was true.

He couldn't. Not yet. Because that would depend on whether Greg and Nick were alive or not…

* * *

It had been about twenty minutes since Nick and Greg last spoke. Twenty minutes since Greg had told Nick to let him die, and it was with a heavy heart that Nick knew in around forty minutes, Greg was going to stop fighting. The young man was going to let the darkness consume him, or rather the light at the end of the tunnel. Maybe that light was now Greg's only beacon of hope, the only one thing that would let him stop suffering.

Nick wanted to stop the suffering. He wanted to trade places with Greg, he wanted to go back in time and stop this from happening, as cliché as it sounded. He wanted to be back with Grissom, Catherine, Warrick, Greg and Sara back at the lab. Solving cases and laughing. But that all seemed like a distant memory now. Almost like it had never happened before, this hell hole had been there lives for the past four days now. And it would always be part of their lives, because the memories of the torture would never cease. Nick realised that now.

Nick shuffled a little closer to Greg as he'd been keeping a protective watch over the younger man. Though badly beaten himself, Greg looked a thousand times worse in Nick's opinion. Blood had begun to seep out from behind the young man's back and it made Nick sick to look at. He wished all of this would go away. Greg had given up trying to keep his eyes open a while ago and now the only sign he was alive was the ever so slight bobbing up and down motion in his chest.

"Please don't give up on me Greg" Nick pleaded as he took the younger man's hand and placed it on his chest "And don't give up on our family either. They're close now, I can feel it. I've been trying so hard to figure a way out, but I guess I can't think straight anymore" he said with a humourless laugh "I don't know if you can hear me… but, please don't die" he said tears slipping from his eyes "you mean too much to me, to all of us. Please don't let Seth win. I know it hurts, but you're strong and I believe you can do this" Nick smiled just a little when Greg gave his hand a faint squeeze to signal he had heard.

It was a sign of hope.

* * *

"Seth, we have a problem" Grant said storming into the room to find the ring leader sat twizzling a knife around on the palm of his hand. He seemed to be in deep thought.

"As if I didn't have enough already" Seth said with a sigh as he swivelled round in his chair "what's the matter this time?"

"I just called the construction yard to see what was taking Marshall so long and…. Sam said some cop and those stupid CSI's had caught him."

Seth froze momentarily. "What?" he seethed through gritted teeth. How _dare_ that idiot get caught! After everything Seth had planned and worked hard to achieve….

"They'll have found the GPS Seth!" Grant exclaimed as he began to panic. Getting caught was certainly not part of the plan. "They'll be on their way right now!"

Seth however turned away and took a deep sigh, remaining calm as always "You're right" he said pulling back his jacket slightly and slowly drawing out a gun. "So I guess I should tie up all my loose ends…" and with that he spun round and shot Grant dead. The beast of man fell the floor instantly, never to breathe again "And now for the boys" Seth said spinning the gun round on his finger "One last minute of fun."

* * *

Nick heard the shot ring out and he gasped. Was it the cops? Had they been found? He quickly ran to the window to check, but his heart sank when there was no one to be seen. Grant was dead. He knew that, there was no way it was Seth, he was the brains of the operation after all. But where was Marshall? Had he been found? Nick prayed that was the reason they hadn't seen the other man in a while.

Suddenly the door opened and Seth stormed in holding his gun. "Get over there!" he commanded to Nick waving the gun towards the far corner of the room. Nick didn't move, he wouldn't leave Greg alone within a foot of this psycho anymore. "I said move!" he demanded, this time pointing the gun at a still unconscious Greg, that time Nick moved.

"Whatever it is please, let it be this time" Nick said. He didn't even stutter or cry, just said it outright because he was serious.

"Don't worry about that" Seth snarled "Face the wall!" he commanded. Nick did so but discreetly turned his head a little so he could see Greg out the corner of his eye. "Now because I no longer have anyone to take care of you I guess you'll have to stay here…" Seth started.

"They found him didn't they" Nick said with a smile "our friends found Marshall" he couldn't believe the rush of happiness this gave him. But it soon disappeared, this meant he and Greg didn't have much time left.

"Shut up!" Seth said loathing the CSI's smugness. "Now I'm not going to kill you, not yet, I have something else planned for you" he said advancing towards Nick with the gun still pointed at the CSI's back. "But I'm going to have some fun with Greggo first and I _really_ don't think you want to see this"

Nick eyes widened "What…" he started, but stopped as Seth brought the butt of the gun down hard on the Texan's head.

Nick sank to his knees and the world began to spin. _No!_ His mind cried _No you have to stay awake for Greg! You have to tell him the others are on the way! Stay awake…stay awake…awake…_

"Greg" he whispered before everything went black.

* * *

_Nick's eyes shot open and he gasped, it felt like he had been drowning and he'd just broke through the surface. Except it wasn't water he was drowning in, it was emotion. Pain, guilt, anxiety, sorrow, they were all slowly but surely pulling him under. He was lying on the floor on his back, body trembling as he realised Greg was once again missing. _

"_Oh God" Nick whispered he could feel the tears welling in his eyes but for some reason he just couldn't cry "Oh please not again…just leave him alone" he whispered "Just leave him alone!" he yelled that time pounding his fists on the floor._

"_Leave who alone Nicky?" a cold voice said, Nick recognised it instantly and a cold shiver was sent down his spine. "Why, Greggo's right here"_

_Nick sat up and again gasped, but this time because he was mortified at the sight before him. Greg sat slumped against the wall. His skin was ghost pale, almost as if he weren't in existence. His eyes were sunken deep into his skin and they were plagued by shadows and dark rings. There were cuts and bruises all over his skin with barley any unscathed skin showing and his head was titled slightly to one side as if he barely had enough energy to lift it. _

"_Why is he looking at you like that?" Seth whispered in Greg's ear as half of their captors face suddenly emerged from the shadow behind Greg. "He thinks you're a freak, he thinks you're worthless."_

"_No" Nick stuttered "No that's not true!" _

"_Freak…" a voice Nick barely recognised to be Greg's repeated. It was so emotionless and stale. "Worthless…" he whispered. _

_The young lab tech flicked his eyes over to look at Nick; it felt like a blade had pierced through the Texan's heart. There was no soul in Greg's eyes anymore; Nick would never have thought he was once the happiest kid he had ever known. The kid who would bounce around without a care in the world, who brightened everyone's day, the kid he had taught to play baseball…the only little brother he had. Now Greg's deep brown eyes were, empty, a hollow shell and that scared Nick more than anything because that was when he realised that the old Greg was gone, and he was never coming back._

"_Yes, why do you think he didn't help you?" Seth continued to whisper in Greg's ear but Nick could still hear. The twisted man put a hand on Greg's shoulder "he doesn't really care about you" he said in a manipulative way. "or else he would have helped you"_

"_Help me…" Greg whispered his eyes looked almost pleading this time "Nick…why didn't you help me?" his voice quivered and a tear rolled down his cheek. Suddenly, Greg's face turned into one of utter fear "Nick!" he yelled "Help me!"_

Nick's eyes opened in reality. Greg's cries for help however, had not been part of the dream.


	15. Chapter 14: The End?

**Chapter 14: The End? **

"Now then _Greggo_" Seth said mockingly as he sat down beside the broken young lab tech. "We finally have some alone time" he whispered gently stroking Greg's cheek with the back of his hand. "They're coming for me you know, your friends" Greg twitched a little at this, had he heard? Seth didn't care; in fact it might be better if he were awake for this. "So there's something I need to do. I think we know it's been a long time coming. Something that has to be done before they get here."

Greg felt slight warmth in his heart. He liked to think this was because he knew his friends were coming to get him and Nick, but it was more likely because his heart was about to give out at any moment. He knew the others would find them_, he knew_ it; he couldn't believe he'd ever doubted them. They were a team after all, a family, and families always stuck together. That's why the young man knew he had to fight now, fight harder than ever before, because there was no way the guys were going to go through all the trouble to find him just to find out he was dead.

Wait… maybe that's what Seth meant by _something_ having to be done. Oh God. This was it, Greg knew it. He and Nick were going to be killed. Nick. Where was he? Was he dead already? No he can't be. Greg would know if he was, he would have felt something. But he had to make sure. _Fight the pain _he thought weakly to himself _fight it for Nick, for Sara, Warrick, Cath and Grissom. They need you as much as you need them. _The young man moaned a little and his breathing grew heavier as his eyes began to flutter open.

"Ah there they are" Seth said, there was longing in his tone "those big brown orbs. About the only part of you I haven't destroyed huh?" he said with smirk.

"Go…to…hell" Greg breathed and rolled his head so he could see Nick lying unconscious across the room. The young man's eyes widened.

"Don't worry he's not dead" Seth said bluntly, instantly knowing Greg's fears. "I just wanted us to have some private time" Greg suddenly realised the smooth fingers running up and down his left cheek. "Such a shame, you're too cute" Seth said pursing his lips "I've been waiting for this a long time… since I was fourteen in fact. I was the teen who was isolated from the rest because of who I chose to kiss. I was waiting for someone who would understand how it feels to be so small and insignificant. And that's what you are, isn't it?" he moved his hand up into Greg's hair "you're the lab tech. The lackey. I bet they don't talk to you much unless it's about work. I bet they don't invite you out with them." he slowly reached over and gripped Greg's right arm "face it Greggo. They're coming to find Nick, not you." he laughed "They don't care about you! Just look at you, look how _weak_ you are. They babysit you, that's all they do, and they must be sick of you by now."

"N-no" Greg stuttered he looked back at Seth. He was scared out of his mind, somehow more scared than he had been about the whip. He knew what was coming; he knew that the mental scars of this would be a great deal bigger than the physical ones of a whip. "No…they d-don't th-think…" but he had to stop and think… was that so untrue? They didn't really hang out…and he knew he was weak…

Seth smiled "and that's why, I know you need this just as much as I do" and with that he plunged his lips onto Greg's neck and started kissing.

"No!" Greg cried with as much power as he could "No p-please" he had tears running down his cheeks as he pushed his hands against Seth's chest, but the burst of energy was not enough. "Pp-lease st-top"

Seth ingnored him. He moved his hand onto Greg's chest, he could feel the young man trembling as he began to lift up Greg's shirt, Seth's fingers tracing the young man's highly prominent ribs from lack of food. His lips moved up onto Greg's face, their lips met. Greg was trying to push Seth away; he was fighting with all his mite. He whimpered and cried but Seth was relentless in his quest to break the young man once and for all. It was when the monsters hand started to undo Greg's belt that Greg couldn't take anymore.

"No!" Greg cried more forcefully than ever as he felt the zip of his jeans being undone, he kicked and squirmed "Get off me! Nick!" he cried, if Nick were alive he would hear him. He would hear Greg's calls and he would save him "Nick help! Help me! Please I need you!" He could have cried with relief when Nick's eyes flew open.

Nick saw what was happening. He saw Greg being pinned to the floor, Seth towering over him and kissing the petrified young man. He saw… he saw Seth slowly pull Greg's belt from the loops and carelessly drop it to the floor. A flash of what happened to Nick when he was nine passed over his mind; he remembered the pain and the fear.

Nick narrowed his eyes, he gritted his teeth. He was mad. Madder than he ever had been before. "You son of a bitch!" he yelled scrambling to his feet and launching himself at Seth. He caught the psycho off guard and they both went flying onto the wall.

Greg scrambled back in shock. It appeared Nick had awoken just in time as the scared man tried to redo his button and zip with shaky hands. Nothing had been done majorly, but enough had been done to cause mental destruction.

Nick meanwhile was beating the hell out of Seth, something he'd been wanting to do for a long time. Everything that bastard had done to Greg over the past few days was resurfacing in Nick'a mind and so he was going for it. He just wanted the bastard to die.

Seth on the other hand was still laughing, even thought he was starting to bleed and his body was starting to feel broken. He pulled the gun from inside his jacket and pressed the barrel against Nick's chest.

"Nick!" Greg exclaimed in warning as the Texan did not notice. Nick stopped and looked down at the gun.

"Get off me" Seth said and Nick slowly rose to his feet, the torturer following. "You always got to ruin it don't you Tex" he said through gritted teeth. "Well not anymore, it's your turn now. I just have to deal with one thing first" with that he turned to Greg "Night, night Greg, it's been fun."

He turned the gun to the young man and a shot was fired. Greg cried in pain. He went limp.

"NO!" Nick cried as he tried to run to Greg but Seth pulled him back "No! Greggo!" he wasn't sure that his friend's chest was moving anymore. "Please" he sobbed as tears ran down his face "No please, please don't die. They're close…they're so close"

"Yes they are…so we better get this over with" Seth said grabbing the scruff of Nick's shirt and pulling him from the room. Nick didn't even fight, he didn't had the strength. Not now he thought the person who gave him that strength was….dead. _Oh God. Greggo._

Seth dragged Nick outside into the blazing desert sun and pushed him down into the sand. "The final piece of the puzzle. Get rid of Tex and my revenge is over. Greg's dead, Nicky, and you have to expect that."

Nick gave a warrior like cry as he lunged at Seth for the last time he pushed the man to the floor and wrestled with him for a while before finally managing to prise the gun from Seth's fingers. The CSI stood up and towered over his torturer for the first time. _He_ was now the one in control.

"Move and I'll blow your brains out!" Nick yelled pointing the gun at Seth's head "you _sick bastard_, how could you put us through this? We didn't do anything wrong!" he continued to yell, his anger was just growing. "You killed Greg" Nick's voice grew quiet all of a sudden as if the realisation had hit him for the first time "and now I'm going to kill you" he said in something just above a whisper.

Seth laughed_. He laughed. _After everything he'd put them through and he had the audacity to _laugh._ It wasn't a nervous laugh, an evil laugh or sarcastic laugh. It was a genuinely humoured laugh. That made Nick see red. It was the blood spilled to avenge the man he loved like a brother. It was the fiery torturous flames of hell, because that was where he was going to send Seth and that was where the monster would burn.

"You won't kill me" Seth said with a certain tone, but it was almost patronizing too. "It's not because I don't think you've got the guts, because I've seen what you can do when you feel threatened or scared. It's the fact it's just not in your nature. You're too good."

Nick wasn't sure. He wasn't sure if his heart was as pure as it once was. A couple of weeks ago and he wouldn't have even dreamed of killing anyone. But not anymore, now he was just angry. He and Greg had survived together for days. Through the beatings, the torture, the starvation, only for his best friend to be taken away from him the last second. And he just watched, he couldn't do anything, he should have tried harder, and then Greg would still be there.

"You wanna try me" Nick said moving closer towards Seth, the gun still pointing directly at the man's heart. "Get on your knees and put your hands behind your head" he commanded it a pretty decent imitation of Brass.

"You won't do it…"

"I said get down!" Nick ordered taking the safety off the gun.

Seth somewhat shakily did as he was told. Nick received a brief feeling of pleasure when he swore he saw a hint of fear flash across Seth's eyes. But then he felt sick. Not physically sick but sick at himself for feeling a thrill at making someone scared. _What the hell is wrong with me?!_ But still Nick did not lower the gun. _Stop, this isn't you, this isn't what you do! _He wavered for only a second but his head was playing devil's advocate.

_He killed Greg…your best friend….your brother, avenge him. Seth deserves to die. He deserves for you to make his last breath as painful as possible. So do it. Pull the trigger. _

Nick's heart however was on the complete opposite side of the argument.

_But if you kill him then that makes you just as bad as he is and you don't even want to be associated with him! This is not you. You are not a killer. Do you think this is what Greg would have wanted you to do? Do you think this will make him proud? No, he'll want you to be the better person and carry on. Don't kill Seth, if you do then he's won because he's caused you too lose control and be someone you're not. Don't let him change you. Be strong for Greg as well as yourself. _

Nick hadn't been aware of exactly when he had moved so close to Seth that the barrel of the gun was well and truly pushed up against the kidnapper's forehead, dead centre. Nick still held a trembling finger on the trigger and Seth appeared to have noticed this as he didn't seem as nervous as before.

"Go on then" Seth said almost daringly "do it"

Nick gritted his teeth and dug the barrel of the gun further into Seth's head so that Seth nearly toppled over. But still he could not find the strength to pull the trigger. He was still having an inner battle and as always his heart was winning, but he wasn't going to retreat yet.

"Beg me" Nick said through gritted teeth "beg me not to end your life, just like I begged you not to end Greg's!" _Stop what are you doing? Come on this isn't you_! "Come on you're not in charge anymore, I'm not afraid anymore. I hold the gun, I have the power. So beg me!" he yelled.

"I don't need to, because you won't do it" Seth said, still seemingly confident. Maybe he just didn't fear death, or maybe he just was a gambling man.

Nick lowered the gun. He kept his face blank, hiding his feelings and intentions. Seth grinned, he had won, just as he had all along, he would complete his torment yet. Nick turned and started to slowly walk away, putting the safety back on the gun. Seth grinned and chuckled as he picked himself up off the ground and brushed himself down.

"See, I knew you wouldn't…." Seth started but he didn't finish.

Nick whirled round so fast Seth almost didn't see it. There was a click as he once again turned the safety off the weapon.

"Stop!" A voice, a very familiar voice cried from back near the bunker_. No it can't be. _Nick thought. _You're hearing things; you've already proved you're insane, look at you. _"Nick!" the voice called again.

That time the CSI looked around and squinted into the light. The voice's figure was stood down in the doorway of the bunker, shadowed by the building. But Nick knew who it was.

He just wasn't sure he was willing to believe it.

* * *

**A/N:** **Hello from the bottom for once! Sorry for the wait but I hope this chapter was worth it! I hope it's gripping enough because that's what I really wanted. Thank you SO much for the reviews and follows too :)  
So, I know this is probably not what some of you wanted regarding what Seth was going to do to Greg, but I just couldn't do it to Greg, he's been through enough! Just like I couldn't really kill him...right? You'll have to wait until the next chapter to see ;) **  
**Reviews would be awesome :)**


	16. Chapter 15: The Brink

**A/N: Hello Humans and Aliens alike! Thank you sooo much for the reviews and just reading this story, your reviews make me smile so much XD. So there will be one or two more chapters after this, lots more angst and emotion to come! Hope you enjoy :) **

**Reviews would be awesome! :) xx**

* * *

**Chapter 15: The Brink **

"Greg?"

Nick could hardly believe it. He thought… he thought his best friend was dead. By right he should be with the amount of blood he'd lost. But oh no, Greg Sanders was stubborn, Greg Sanders was a fighter, and there was no way in hell he would let Seth win. The young man was battered, broken, bleeding, and bruised. But there he stood, granted leaning rather heavily on the doorway as obviously walking just that little ways had tired him out. But he was there none the less.

Or was he? _A mirage caused by the desert heat _Nick theorised. Maybe a ghost… or maybe Nick himself was also dead at this point too, and at this point the Texan wouldn't have much cared. He wouldn't have been able to go on without Greg. The survivors guilt would have been too much, and plus it just wouldn't be the same without him.

"Nick" Greg said again. His voice was quiet and weak, but it was definitely there. He was there. And Nick had not gone insane.

"Greggo!" Nick exclaimed.

He ran towards his young friend with what was for the first time in days, tears of joy. He completely forgot about Seth, the kidnapper himself seemed to be in awe at the presence. Nick ran to Greg and flung his arms around the young man's neck. It hurt like hell but Greg didn't show it, he just wanted to comfort Nick so much.

"I thought you were dead" Nick said as he buried his head in Greg's hair "Oh God I thought you were dead"

"N-not ye-yet" Greg breathed "Co-couldn't l-leave you" he was in so much pain that his words were fragmented and his body was shaking with violent spasms. Nick's heart broke again.

"No, no I killed you!" Seth said pulling himself from the sand and pointing a shaky finger at Greg. "Why will you not just die!" he seethed.

He was ignored. "It'll be ok now Greg" Nick whispered "the others will be here soon"

Seth also seemed to remember this point "Fine, guess I'll just have to do this with my bare hands!" he yelled, as he started to storm towards them.

"I know, N-ick giv-give me the gu-gun" Greg asked, reaching out a shaky hand and gently pulling it from Nick's slack grip. "P-please don't th-think badly of me, f-for th-this" Greg implored as he tried to look Nick in the eye.

Nick was about to ask what he meant by that, but a gunshot being fired just past his right side gave him the answer. Seth cried in pain and fell to the floor. Greg dropped the gun.

"You little shit!" Seth cried as he clutched at the wound just below his heart, blood was blossoming around the edges "I … this was my …." He stopped talking. He stopped breathing. The monster fell to the ground and moved no more.

Nick looked back at Greg. There was no shock or disappointment in the Texan's eyes, although Greg's were somewhat filled with guilt. _Typical Greg_ Nick thought _The bastard tortured him and he's _still_ guilty_. Suddenly a whole new spasm of pain went through Greg's body; he whimpered in pain and began to fall to his knees. Nick immediately jumped into action.

"No, no, no, come on Greg" Nick pleaded "They have to be just minutes away. I know they are"

"C-can't" Greg said through painful and ragged breaths "C-can't, so-sorry"

"Greggo please you can't give up on me now" Nick said, his voice breaking.

"Ni-Nick" Greg said his trembling hand loosely gripping his friend's shirt. He looked like he was about to say something else, but suddenly his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he went limp.

"No! Greg!" Nick called, shaking the young man's shoulders vigorously, but it was no use. Greg was out cold and his pulse was growing extremely faint. "No, come on man. I am not letting you do this" he said determinedly as he scooped the young man up into his arms.

Greg was extremely light to carry, worryingly so, as Nick made his way out into the desert sun once more. He thought maybe getting to higher ground might be more useful for their discovery and so started to scale a nearby sand dune, Greg hanging limply in his arms. Nick was so tired when he reached the top he had to put Greg down, despite the man's weightlessness. Beatings and lack of food and water had taken its toll on Nick too and he wasn't feeling as strong as he used to.

"Come on guys where are you?" Nick pleaded as he went down alongside Greg, the young man still somehow managing to grip his shirt. "Please, where are you?" he rested Greg's head on his lap and stroked his hair.

Just then, the most beautiful sound came to Nick's ear. He daren't believe it at first, but it was there, and it was… amazing. Helicopter blades cutting the air. He looked behind him and there it was. He laughed with joy. "They're here Greggo! They're here!" he hugged the young man closer still, but Greg did not give a response. "We made it buddy" he said with tears escaping his eyes.

But they weren't out of the woods yet.

* * *

"Down there!" Sara exclaimed excitedly, Warrick came running over. They watched as Nick stumbled up to the top of the sand hill and fell to his knees, Greg in his arms "Oh My God" Sara breathed.

"Quick, set us down!" Warrick called to the pilot and they quickly complied. As soon as the helicopter hit the ground Warrick and Sara were running towards their friends.

"Nick, Greg!" Sara called as she landed on her knees beside the Texan and flung her arms around him. Warrick was with Greg.

"Sara, Oh God Sara I'm so glad to see you" Nick breathed as he buried his head in her hair.

"We need the medics!" Warrick called as he looked at Greg. "Kid, what the hell happened to you?" Warrick said kneeling beside Greg and brushing some strands of hair out of his face. There was so much blood, and so many bruises… even the strong man wanted to cry.

"He is alive right?" Sara asked looking at their young friend wide eyed.

Warrick put two fingers on Greg's neck "Only just" he said solemnly. Sara stifled a sob.

"Guys, we need you out the way. Just for a few minutes so we can prep Greg and Nick for transportation" one of the medics from the helicopter said. Warrick and Sara reluctantly stepped away but Nick wouldn't leave Greg's side.

"Mister Stokes we need to…"

"No please, please don't make me leave him" Nick said with tears still flowing as a medic tried to gently pull him away.

"Nick we need to check you over and then we need to get both of you to hospital straight away"

"I know but he needs me…" They didn't understand, if Nick left Greg's side then he'd fade away. He'd stop fighting and die.

The medic managed to pull Nick away ever so slightly and Greg's limp grip on his shirt finally fell. The young man moaned all of a sudden, like he sensed Nick wasn't there anymore and it upset him.

"Greggo!" The Texan exclaimed trying to get to him, but Warrick and one of the paramedics held him back.

Sara was with Greg now. She clapped a hand over her mouth at the shredded mess on his back. Greg was a kid to them. He was so innocent, he wouldn't hurt a fly. There was no way in hell he deserved this. There was so much blood and Greg was such a small and vulnerable person to Sara. She watched in awe as the medics scrambled around Greg, she wondered if there was anything about him that _wasn't_ broken. He didn't look like their Greg anymore.

"Sara" Warrick called over. He had an arm around Nick trying to calm him down as another medic looked the Texan over "I'm going to stay here and process. Grissom said he'd meet me. You go with them to the hospital and meet Catherine" he instructed. Sara nodded and gave a shaky sigh as she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Wh-what's happening with Greg? Is he gunna be ok?" Sara asked a medic as the others started to move Greg to the helicopter.

"I'm afraid it's too early to say" the medic said sympathetically and he hurried after Greg.

"Everything's going to be ok now man" Warrick said rubbing Nick's back "You and Greg are going to get through this. Now where's… Seth" he said through gritted teeth, the monster did not deserve to have a name. Nick pointed a shaky hand down the sand dune and Warrick left him with the medic.

"Come on Mister Stokes" the female medic said soothingly as she helped him shakily to his feet. Nick had his arms tightly folded across his chest and was trembling furiously.

"It's ok, I got him" Sara said as she gently placed an arm around Nick's shoulder and then clasped his hands tightly.

"Greg…is he…is he gunna…live" Nick asked breathlessly, his eyes wide like saucers.

"They…" Sara couldn't tell him, it would break his heart. But she knew she had to be honest "They don't know" she said rubbing his back as the Texan let out a shuddering sob. "I'm so sorry Nicky"

"But he has to, he has to live." Nick said as he watched the medics pull Greg onto the helicopter "you found us… you found us" he suddenly flung his arms around Sara. "I missed you. My little sister" she heard him whisper into her hair.

Sara was extremely touched; they'd only known each other several months after all. "I missed you too. Now come on we need to go to the hospital and get you guys better" Nick sniffed and nodded before both CSI's climbed onto the helicopter.

Minutes later and Nick had lost consciousness much to Sara's concern. The medics tried to show some comfort by saying they were expecting it and prepared for it as Nick was exhausted, malnourished and in a pretty bad shape. It was heart breaking for Sara to see now two people she loved like brothers so lost and hurt. She was struggling to keep it together. The female CSI sat in the corner so that the medics could work on Greg and Nick as Sara just watched the scene unfold.

"Please just be alright" she whispered as she squeezed her eyes shut and clasped her hands together at her mouth "Please just be alright"

* * *

Warrick meanwhile had made his way down the sand dune. There was determination in his stride as he clenched his fists and narrowed his eyes. He spotted the unmoving body of Seth Falkner lying in a heap, the sand surrounding him stained red. The right side of Warrick's lips curled up into a smirk. He was….happy and actually a little disappointed he didn't get to do the job himself.

He stopped and looked down into the monsters cold and soulless eyes, although he doubted there had been any soul in them in the first place.

"You son of a bitch" the CSI said shaking his head. "You got what you deserved. And guess what, you lost asshole." He laughed at the pathetic body "Nick and Greg are gunna live, but even death it too good for you. But hey, the flames of hell can have you now"

The CSI didn't have his kit yet as he was waiting for Grissom to arrive, but he just had to start looking around. Warrick carried on walking and found the gun near the entrance of the bunker. He shakily stepped through the door dreading what he was going to find.

He walked down the damp and dark corridors to the first door and cautiously pushed it open. The sight made him sick. This was obviously the place Nick and Greg had been kept for the past several days. The rags of torn clothes were scattered across the floor as well as various different blood pools, most of which Warrick unfortunately knew was Greg's. He noticed the shackles on the wall. This place was worse than a prison. The CSI couldn't stand the sight anymore as he thought of the torture his friends must have been through.

Warrick moved further along the corridor. He came across the grimy bathroom and found the bath tub still filled with the filthy water, again there was blood in it. "Oh God" Warrick breathed "What did they do to you guys?"

He continued further into the bunker and found Seth's 'control' room. There he found a chair with a desk. On the desk were five burnt out candles, a knife covered with blood and… "Oh my God Greggo" the sight of the whip made Warrick's blood run cold. That would explain the kids back being such a mess. The CSI decided he would burn the torturous thing himself later.

"Warrick?"

The CSI wiped his eyes and turned to see Grissom in the doorway carrying their cases.

"How they doing?" Grissom asked setting the cases down.

"Not good" Warrick said in a shaky voice. He for once felt like he could lose it at any minute. "Just tell me they'll be ok Griss. Tell me Greg's gunna be alive. Tell me they'll both be themselves."

Grissom sighed and looked sadly at his younger friend. He didn't know if he could promise any of those things.


	17. Chapter 16: Processing

**A/N: Hello my lovely's! Thank you sooo much for your awesome reviews! I can't thank you enough, this may actually be my first story to hit the big 100 :D I hope you're still loving it with a couple more chapters to go. This one is all about the teams reactions, but don't worry, more Greg and Nick in the next chapter :) Enjoy! X**

**Please Review :) xx**

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**Chapter 15: Processing **

When Sara arrived at the hospital with Nick and Greg, the two men were immediately taken away. Nick, to a room to get hooked to an IV drip to deal with his dehydration and get all his cuts sterilized and stitched. Greg, to the operating theatre. He needed a blood transfusion and a load of stiches, fast; the medics already feared he may have become infected. The water needed to be cleared from his lungs, his burns needed to be prevented from going septic, and he too needed to be rehydrated.

Sara didn't know what to do with herself as she watched the two men she loved like brothers being pushed away. She'd only just got them back and they were already being ripped away again. The helicopter had been the most nerve wracking journey of her life. The way the medics hovered over Greg, like they were just waiting for him to die. The way Nick wore a deep frown on his face, conveying his concern for Greg even though neither of them was even conscious. Sara Sidle had never felt so useless in her life and it tore her apart to see them this way.

She could now see the physical extent of what Greg and Nick had been through, and she didn't know what she'd been expecting but not this…never this… who could have the heart to do something like this?, especially to Nick and Greg. But then it occurred to her it was because the demon that did this had no heart. She needed them to live, or else she didn't know how she would cope.

"Sara!" she turned and saw Catherine hurrying towards her. "Hey, how are they doing?" the motherly look on concern which had been residing over Catherine's face the past few days appeared to be more prominent than ever.

"They're alive" she said and Catherine sighed in relief "but they erm… they…" and Sara Sidle finally broke down into tears as she clasped a hand over her mouth.

"Oh, Honey come here" Catherine said pulling the younger CSI into her arms. "They're safe now" Catherine said soothingly as she rubbed Sara's back, the young women shook in her arms "They're safe" Catherine repeated.

"Not until they both wake up will I be able to accept that" Sara whispered.

* * *

Warrick and Grissom had done processing the bunker. They were not surprised to find Grant dead either, Seth was definitely not a merciful man as they knew all but too well. Now back at the lab, Grissom had gone to autopsy whilst Warrick was processing the evidence.

It hurt the CSI a lot when he went to the DNA room to find the tech from dayshift covering. It should be Greg who came bounding up to him with a goofy grin on his face as he asked how he could help. It should be Greg's music he could hear blurring down the hall and getting told off by Grissom, even though they all knew it secretly made the supervisor smile. He even missed the smell of the kid's infamous coffee. He rather reluctantly handed the evidence over to the lab tech who was a stranger to him. He gave Warrick a sympathetic smile and the CSI left to process the gun.

He went to the finger printing lab and started dusting the weapon. He would glance up now and again half expecting to see Nick working on his own evidence whilst telling Warrick about the latest 'hot chick' he'd been on a date with. Warrick smiled at the thought. They'd talk about sport and then make bets on what the fingerprints would show. Now the room was eerily quiet and Warrick had never felt so worn out.

The CSI managed to pull several overlapping prints form the gun, he just hoped he could distinguish them all. After running them he found three separate matches, Seth Falkner, Greg Sanders, and Nick Stokes.

"Greg's are on top" he muttered to himself "meaning he was last to hold the gun" he couldn't help but let a little smile come to him as he thought about what this implied "Way to go kid" he said as he printed the results, at least the kid had got some justice for himself and Nick.

* * *

Grissom walked into the autopsy room to find Doctor Robins stood over Seth as he took a bullet from the right side of the psychopath's chest.

"Hey Gil, how are the boys doing?" Robins asked without looking up from his work.

Grissom sighed "I'm not sure if I'm totally honest"

"Well I wish them the best" Robins said placing the bullet in a tray.

The CSI supervisor stood over the body of the man and frowned. Grissom had always been taught to stay objective, and he'd always been able to keep his cool. But now he looked down into the un-gazing eyes of the man who had kidnapped and tortured two of his team members, he found himself not caring about the man's death. He had gotten what he deserved, in Grissom's opinion.

"Both died from bullet wounds" Doc Robin's started as he stood between the bodies of Seth and Grant. "Gigantor over here was first to go" Robin's said with lack of sensitivity in his voice. "About three hours ago… his sadistic leader over here followed about an hour later. I pulled both bullets and they both appear to be the same type of ammo."

"Alright, thanks Doc" Grissom said. He left to find Warrick with the rest of the evidence.

As he walked away, leaving the two dead maniacs behind, he finally began to calm, and finally began to believe that Nick and Greg where going to pull through this. They couldn't be hurt anymore because the tormenters where back there on a metal slab.

"Griss, I pulled three sets of prints off the gun." Warrick said as he approached his supervisor and they walked to the DNA lab. "Seth's, Nick's and Greg's, in that order. There were three bullets missing. Obviously two of them are in those bastards, but that means the other one…" he didn't need to finish. Grissom knew. _Could be in Nick or Greg._

"Alright, I think it's safe to assume that Seth shot Grant because he didn't want any loose ends. And since Greg's prints came out on top, it's likely he was the one who shot Seth, but we can't be sure we'd have to find some GSR" Grissom said.

He hated talking about the kid like he was some kind of murderer. The lab tech and Nick were the complete opposite, they were the victims. And that stung the supervisor to no end as he once again concluded that he had severely let his team down.

They entered the DNA lab to find Mark, the dayshift tech, with a worried look on his face. "Hey guys, I'm sorry to say but the majority of the blood you collected came from either Stokes or Sanders" Warrick sighed, although he couldn't be surprised. "Blood on the clothing fragments you collected, Nick and Greg. The knife, Nick and Greg. The blood from the bath tub, Greg. There were some blood drops on the floor belonging to Grant, I guess one of your guys got a few punches in" he said in hope of giving some condolence. "Oh, and the blood on the whip came back to Greg also…" he trailed off at the end, he felt like the Grim Reaper for this.

Warrick ran a hand down his face. "Alright, thanks Mark" Grissom said and they turned to leave.

"Hey, I hope Greg and Nick get better soon" Mark said with a wary smile, which Grissom returned.

"Can we go to the hospital now?" Warrick asked as they headed down the hall "I just… I really need to see them"

"Ok sure" Grissom said, needing to see his friends too.

* * *

Catherine had eventually taken Sara to sit down as they waited for some more news. She hated waiting, anything could be happening to her boys… she couldn't help but smile a little, _her_ boys. Waiting was always the hardest part, the longer you waited, and the more likely it was to be bad news. She sat with her legs crossed and her arm comfortingly draped around Sara's shoulder, the younger woman had only just stopped crying.

"They'll be ok" Catherine had told Sara "They just like to leave us hanging until the last moment. They're too stubborn to give up" and the older CSI believed this, with all her heart. "They wouldn't leave us, they know they're safe."

She thought of her young daughter, Lindsay, and realised that if the little girl had been kidnapped, she'd be reacting the same way, because Greg and Nick were like sons to her. And she desperately needed to give them a hug, because that's what mothers do, and she would go home later and cuddle her daughter, a lot.

"Family for Nick Stokes?" a Doctor suddenly called. Catherine and Sara immediately jumped up.

"Yes we're his…family" Catherine replied.

"Nick is completely stable now and he's doing really well" the Doctor said and both CSI's nearly cried out in relief. "We've stitched up all the wounds we can and cleaned the rest. He does have a couple of bumps to the head but no apparent brain damage or signs of a concussion. He's a tough guy" the Doctor said with a small smile.

"Yeah" Catherine said with a proud smile "Yeah he is" and she knew most of that strength would have come from Nick's urge to protect Greg.

"He's still unconscious but the IV drip is helping him get hydrated and we'll get him some food when he wakes up, which we hope will be very soon. You can sit with him if you like. He's just down the hall, third door to the right" the Doctor finished informing them.

"Thank you, thank you so much" Catherine said as she wiped a tear away. She felt like a certain amount of weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

"Do you know anything about Greg?" Sara asked. She was of course thrilled that Nick was going to be ok and she couldn't wait to be with him, but the lack of information on Greg deeply concerned her.

"No I'm sorry" the Doctor said with a sympathetic smile. "But I'll try and find out for you" she said kindly and then went onto her next patient.

"Hey, come on" Catherine said giving Sara's shoulder a squeeze "Nick needs us now, yeah?" Sara gave a small smile and nodded before they went to their friend's room.

The woman cautiously entered Nick's room to find him sleeping. Catherine's mouth fell slightly agape as it was the first time she'd seen the full extent of the younger man's injuries. The three biggest visible stitches were on the side of his face, probably from deep cuts. There was a bandage around part of his head to deal with the bumps, and the rest of his face and arms appeared to be riddled with scratches and bruises, he also appeared to be a little thinner than he used to.

"Oh Nicky" Catherine said with tears in her eyes as she sat on the side of the bed and began to gently stroke the Texan's hair. "Why did this have to happen to you?"

"We just need you to wake up" Sara said as she sat in the chair beside Nick's bed and took her big brothers hand. "So that you know we're here and that we're going to take good care of you."

Catherine wasn't so sure she was ready for Nick to wake up_ just_ yet, not until they knew Greg was ok. It would tear her apart if she had to tell the desperate younger man that they didn't know if Greg was going to be ok yet or not. Nick didn't deserve that.

"We're so proud of you Nicky" Catherine said "We need you to know that too" Sara suddenly gasped. "What's up?" Catherine asked.

"He… he squeezed my hand" she said with a small smile "come on Nick, come back to us" she pleaded. The Texan let out a small moan.

"Gr…" they heard him mumble, but the pain and fear was still evident "Greg" he whispered.

"Sweetie it's Catherine and Sara" Catherine said, even though she knew that wasn't what Nick had meant. He'd only been barley conscious 3 seconds and he was already asking how his little brother was.

"C-Cath?" he stuttered almost disbelievingly "Sara"

"You're in the hospital" Sara explained tentatively "everything's going to be ok now"

Nick frowned as if he were confused "Greg…dead?"

There was pause as Catherine and Sara shared a look. They honestly didn't know.

* * *

Grissom and Warrick finally arrived at the hospital, Warrick immediately hurrying to the nurse's desk. "We're looking for Nick Stokes and Greg Sanders" he explained.

The Nurse checked through the files "Yes" she said "Two women are with Mister Stokes right now. He's stable and he'll make a full recovery." Warrick sighed in relief and leant on the counter.

"Thank God" he breathed.

"What about Greg?" Grissom enquired of his youngest team member.

"Erm, he's just come out of surgery. I'll page his Doctor for you" she offered, and a male Doctor appeared just minutes later.

"Greg Sanders?" he asked, Grissom and Warrick nodded. "I'm afraid Mr Sanders had a lot of injuries to deal with." He explained as they began to walk down the hall. Grissom and Warrick shared a look; they knew this could be a long list. "We gave him a blood transfusion to cope with the loss through several lacerations on his back and deep cuts all down his arm, as well as other minor cuts elsewhere and bruising. Then we had to clear his lungs of water, appeared he'd nearly drowned. There were several burn marks all over his body which lucky aren't infected, but I can't guarantee they're not permanent."

"Oh My God" Warrick groaned, he was surprised the kid had lasted this long.

"Another thing you should now is…Greg crashed once during the transfusion" the Doctor said solemnly. Warrick's eyed widened. Greg had _died_? "It took a while to get him back but we did so in the end."

"He's not going to crash again, is he?" Grissom asked, for once in his life _he_ was the one who needed assurance.

The Doctor sighed "I'm afraid at this stage, that's up to Greg."


	18. Chapter 17: Restless Times

**A/N: Heyy guys! Thank you so much for the awesome reviews on the last chapter! I think this is the penultimate one, I can't believe it's so near the end now XD I'd really like opinions on Warrick this chapter as he takes on the big brother role :) I like his relationship with the others and it's a shame his friendship with Greg was never really focused on… and I hope he's not too OOC. **

**Greg and Nick will reunite next chapter! **

**If I can get to 100 reviews I will literally squeal and dance with joy :) xx**

* * *

**Chapter 17: Restless Times **

Nick had asked to be alone after Catherine and Sara made it pretty clear they didn't know how Greg was. He had cried, and he didn't want the girls to see him cry. He and Greg were in hospital, they were supposed to be safe now. But Nick didn't feel safe, because he didn't know if Greg was safe yet. He needed to go and see the younger man, and he needed to do it now. Quite painfully, Nick pulled the wire from the IV drip out of his arm and was about to get out of bed when the door began to open. Like a naughty child getting caught, Nick quickly buried himself back under the covers.

"Nicky?" Warrick asked quietly as the thought his friend was asleep.

"Hey Rick" Nick replied with a croaky voice. "Boy am I glad to see you"

"You too buddy" Warrick said with a smile as he sat down in the chair beside the Texan's bed "I missed you" he confessed. "But don't tell the others I said that" he joked.

Nick laughed and gave him an appreciative smile "I guess you want my statement, photograph my injuries…"

"No, no there's plenty of time for that later" Warrick told him firmly. He needed Nick's mind focused on getting better, not work.

"Do you know how Greg is?" the Texan asked with desperate eyes. "Catherine and Sara…they couldn't tell me."

Warrick sighed and Nick knew he wasn't going to like this. "Greg…died once when he was getting his blood transfusion" there was no point in lying to Nick, he had been through hell with Greg and he deserved to know.

Nick's eyes grew even wider and his breathing hitched a little "Oh My God"

"They brought him back but…they couldn't promise that they wouldn't lose him again" Warrick continued to explain.

Nick tried hard not to cry in front of Warrick. He really tried. But in the end he couldn't help it as he broke down once more. Warrick wasn't sure what to do, so he sat himself on the edge of Nick's bed and rubbed his friends arm gently as he tried to sooth him. He hated seeing Nick this way.

"I'm sorry man" Warrick said "I'm so, so sorry"

"I n-need to s-see Gr-Greg" Nick said as he tried to wipe his eyes.

"I don't think that's a good idea" Warrick warned. He didn't want his friend to see Greg that way "I think you need to rest"

"No I…" Nick tried to get up, but he hissed in pain and feel back down. His broken ribs seemed to hurt more than they did before.

"You just stay put ok" Warrick said. He was still subconsciously rubbing Nick's arm. "I'll go and check on Greg for you"

"Okay" Nick said reluctantly.

"I'll get one of the others to come and stay with you" Warrick told him.

"I don't need a baby sitter" Nick said with a small smile.

"We're not babysitting" Warrick defended "We want to spend time with you and help you get better" he said with a small smile. "So, I'm going to check on Greggo, and then I'm going to report right back to you, Okay?"

"Okay, Thanks Warrick" Nick said patting his friends hand gently as it rested on his bed.

"Don't mention it bud" Warrick said with a small smile and he left.

Nick sighed and closed his eyes as he tried to go to sleep because he still felt pretty exhausted. But he couldn't. He couldn't sleep. Every time he closed his eyes he was back in that place watching Greg get cut, beaten, burned, whipped…kissed. This was the beginning of insomnia.

* * *

Grissom, Catherine and Sara had all been with Greg. They wanted to give Warrick and Nick a private moment which they knew the two best friends desperately needed. Surprisingly, Greg had been doing well. His heart rate seemed to be stable, but his lungs were still a little weak so an oxygen mask was needed. Under his hospital gown, there was gauze wrapped all around Greg's body, almost like a corset, which made it obvious just how thin he'd become. There were just bandages everywhere with a little blood still seeping through. The bruises and cuts were still prominent on Greg's face and arms and the burn on his cheek was still overpowering his face.

Grissom and Catherine were more than shocked, as this was the first time they'd seen Greg since he was taken. Sara was the only one who understood just how much better he looked…which wasn't a lot. Catherine was currently sat rubbing Greg's frail hand in hers, almost trying to warm it as his skin looked so pale. Grissom stood at the end of the bed, hands clasped behind his back as he studied the young man. Greg was twenty four years old, a kid to Grissom… none of this was right.

Suddenly the door opened and Warrick entered. "Oh, Hey guys" he said surprised to see them all in here "I've just come from Nick, he really wants to come and see Greg"

"I'll go talk to him" Catherine said planting a gentle kiss on Greg's unburned cheek and leaving the room. Grissom followed, he hadn't been to see Nick yet. Sara took Catherine's place at Greg's bed, holding the young man's hand.

"Any more news?" Warrick asked daring to not even move the air increase Greg became agitated. That's how frail he looked.

"No, but he's doing ok. His lungs are getting better, the masks just a precaution really. He's got the IV drip and he's got some morphine so… I hope he'll wake up soon" Sara explained as she turned to look at Greg's closed eyes. She missed those innocent brown orbs.

"Yeah, me too" Warrick said still not moving far from the door. Something told him Greg would look even worse from up close. "Sara… is it wrong that I'm glad Seth's dead, and that I'm glad Greg or Nick did it?" the male CSI asked.

"No" Sara said looking round as the older man "I don't think that's wrong at all" Suddenly, to Warrick's surprise, Sara's head snapped back around as she looked at Greg. "Greggo?" she said, she almost daren't believe she'd felt the young man's hand give hers a light squeeze. "Greg can you hear us?"

"Sa…Sar" Greg's dry lips moved just an inch as he tried to call his friends name.

"Yeah Greggo I'm here" she said enveloping his hand in hers "And Warrick's here. You're in the hospital. You're safe" her eyes were welling with tears of relief.

"Ni…Nick" The young man croaked.

"Hey buddy he's fine" Warrick said as he moved closer for the first time. "Nick's doing good, he's been awake for a while now. In fact he's been asking after you too"

"'S good" Greg mumbled as he tried to open his eyes and wake up some more. He couldn't breathe all of a sudden. Why couldn't he breathe!? There was something covering his mouth. He was trapped, trapped by another torturous weapon.

"Hey, hey clam down!" Sara said as Greg started to hyperventilate.

"Get it off me!" he cried from behind the mask "Get it off me, please!" Warrick quickly moved to take the mask off Greg. The young man was terrified. "No," Greg whispered as he brought Sara's hand up to his face and rested it on his cheek "No, no, no…It won't stop"

"Ssh, it's alright" Sara soothed as she rubbed Greg's arm with her free hand "Everything's ok now. We're here. You're safe now I promise"

"Not safe…" Greg whispered as his eyes began to flutter closed once more "don't feel safe" and with that, the young man went limp once more, but Sara's hand was still gripped tightly in his.

"Oh Greggo" Sara whispered as she wiped away her tears.

Warrick stood looking shocked. Eventually, he moved round the other side of the bed to be stood behind Sara and started rubbing her back comfortingly. "Why don't you go get some coffee huh?" he suggested, the female CSI looked beat. "I'll stay with Greg"

"Erm, yeah" Sara said nodding her head slightly. She needed to sort herself out "Yeah ok" she gave Greg one last sad look before leaving the room.

Warrick sat down in the chair by his young friend's bedside and waited.

* * *

Catherine and Grissom went into Nick's room to find the Texan staring up at the ceiling, unblinking, like he was waiting for it to fall.

"Hey Nicky" Grissom spoke first. Nick turned and gave a weak smile at his mentor "It's good to see you"

"Good to see you too boss" he replied quietly. "I'm sorry about kicking you out earlier Cath" he said a little sheepishly.

"Don't worry about it Hun" she said with a smile. "How you feeling?"

"A little better I guess" Nick said as he tried with much effort to sit up. He gritted his teeth in pain, but remained determined. Eventually, Catherine helped him. "Thanks" he whispered, although he was embarrassed. He felt weak.

"You need anything?" Catherine asked "Something for the pain?"

"Nah I'll be alright" Nick tried to reassure her "But I would appreciate some food though" he said gripping his empty stomach.

"Oh sure, I'll go get you something" the female CSI offered.

"Thanks Cath" Nick smiled and she left, leaving the two male CSI's alone.

"Nick I…" Grissom started. He moved and stood beside the younger man with his arms folded "I'm really sorry" he said "I shouldn't have let this happen. I should have kept a closer eye on you guys."

"Griss, this is _not _your fault" Nick reassured him "It's no one's fault other than Seth and his cronies'. Thank you, for finding us"

"It was nothing. You and Greg are part of this family, Nick. We would never have stopped searching." Grissom said, probably more to his own surprise than Nick's.

"Thanks Boss. That means a lot" Nick replied and they shared a rare smile.

Suddenly, the door opened and Sara came in with a small smile on her face. "Hey guys, I just bumped into Catherine and told her the news. Greg woke up for a little while"

"Really?" Nick said. It was the first sign of real relief he'd shown. "Did he say anything?"

"Well he panicked a little" Sara answered truthfully. Nick's face fell again "he thought the oxygen mask was meant for hurting him."

"Dammit Greggo" Nick whispered. He could feel tears building once more.

"And he asked how you were" Sara told him.

"He knows I'm a lot better than he is" Nick said shaking his head at the kids selflessness "he gone back to sleep now?"

"Yeah, Warrick's with him" Sara explained.

"Well I better get my strength back up so I can go see him" Nick said determinedly.

* * *

Warrick remained sat by Greg's side as promised.

It wasn't right. None of this was right. Greg shouldn't be in hospital, or Nick, and none of this should have happened. Greg, the hyperactive kid who Warrick had warmed to almost instantly, laid lifeless and looking like he would never wake up again. Like he would never laugh or smile, like he'd never tell another joke, and like he'd never speak. When Greg had first arrived in Vegas he'd annoyed the _hell _out of Warrick with his constant rambling, but he'd quickly grown to like the kid, and now he'd give anything to hear Greg ramble on about some hot chick he'd met in a Bar.

Greg stirred a little in his sleep. Getting a little excited because he thought the kid might be waking up again, Warrick edged forward slightly, but then Greg settled again and the older CSI felt disheartened.

"Always keep me hanging don't ya?" Warrick said with a small smile.

The CSI went back to watching Greg's skinny form bob up and down_. First thing I'm gunna do when he wakes up for good is get him a cheese burger _Warrick thought. A sudden whimper caught the CSI's attention and a feeling of deep concern started to grow in the pit of Warrick's stomach. Greg's head started to roll around the pillow, his hand gripped the bed sheet tight and he started murmuring.

"No, no, no" he repeated over and over again. "Lea…m' leave…me" he begged as his body started trembling and his breathing became rapid, his forehead sweating. Warrick was shocked and confused of what to do "No... Go away!" Greg suddenly cried and thrashed out. "Sara!" he called, why couldn't he find her hand? "Sara!"

"Hey, Greggo it's me. It's Warrick" the older CSI said leaning forward in his chair. He'd placed one hand down on the top of the bed sheet and Greg had managed to find it in seconds, clamping it in vice grip.

"Warrick!" he exclaimed as his eyes snapped open. His breathing was frantic and he was trembling all over. His eyes were wide as his deep brown orbs meet Warrick. "Don't let them take me again Warrick" he begged "please don't let them take me away"

"Hey, hey don't worry. They're gone ok. They're dead. They can't hurt you anymore ." Warrick reminded him firmly. "Besides I'll protect you Greg. I'll protect you I promise"

"Okay" Greg said as he closed his eyes and got his breathing back under control "Okay I trust you…" as he calmed down, Warrick tried to gently remove his hands from Greg's. "No!" the scared young man begged "No please don't leave"

"Ssh, it's alright, I'm not going anywhere" Warrick said.

He brought his chair a little closer and continued to let Greg grip his hand. Normally, Warrick would feel uncomfortable about such he thing, but Greg needed it him, and he still felt reasonable for the kid being taken. So, he would do whatever it took to help the young man feel safe again.

"Need to tell something…promise won't tell others" Greg requested.

"Sure, sure what's up?" Warrick replied.

"Need…SAE kit" Greg breathed.

"What!?" Warrick exclaimed in shock.

"He…Seth…kissed me…tried to take off my ….but I don't remember if…" the scared young man started to cry. "I just need to know"

"Oh my God Greg" Warrick said as he rubbed the young man's arm, but then decided this maybe a bad idea. "Alright, I'll get one for you later." Warrick didn't think it was possible, but his hatred for Seth seemed to increase. "Go back to sleep buddy" Warrick encouraged. "You need to rest"

"Okay…." Greg conceded as he calmed himself down once more "Okay… just please don't leave"

"Like I said, I'm not going anywhere" Warrick said reassuringly, and Greg finally let his guard down once more as he went back into a deep sleep. His grip on Warrick's hand remained.

And Warrick… well for the first time he let a tear slip from his eyes as he thought about what Greg had told him. He settled himself, ready to stay by Greg's side for a long time. _As long as it takes._


	19. Chapter 18: Answers

**A/N: Hey guys! Sorry it's been a while but this is the last official 'chapter' And Oh. My. God. I can't thank you enough for all you're amazing reviews, my first story to get over 100 :D and the most alerts I've had on a story too! Thank you so, so much…. Thank you! XD So, Nick and Greg reunite in this chapter and the after effects begin to take its toll. **

**I will be back soon with a short epilogue for this story, but then it is finished I feel :) **

**Please review :) xx**

* * *

**Chapter 18: Answers **

It was the middle of the night when Nick woke up once more. Well, he hadn't really been sleeping, just drifting across the line of consciousness. He couldn't sleep properly, not now, not for a long time. He had been feeling a lot better since receiving some decent food and water, and he felt a lot cleaner too. Nick however, was sick of waitng to see Greg. Warrick had not returned, so the Texan was only hoping it was not for a bad reason.

Nick, being the youngest of seven siblings, often slipped under the radar when his parents were concerned and could often get away with not doing as he was told, much to his delight. Naturally therefore, he wasn't going to do as the nurses told him and stay in bed and rest. He couldn't rest, so he might as well go and see Greg since the first time they were brought here. Carefully removing the IV needle from his arm with a hiss of pain, Nick got up, put on the fresh set of clothes that had been left for him, and left down the hall.

The CSI wondered around aimlessly for a while until he found a sign saying the post-op rooms were on the seventh floor. He quickly made his way up and then peaked subtly through the window of each room until he came across Greg's. Surprisingly, Nick smiled at the sight before him. Greg appeared to be sleeping peacefully as he clung onto Warrick's hand and the older CSI had his feet up on the bed with his elbow rested on Greg's pillow and his head propped in his hands. Warrick too was sleeping.

"I am so going to tease you for this later 'Rick" Nick mumbled to himself with a small smile. He knew Warrick would be way out of his comfort zone with all this sensitive stuff, but he was doing really well with fulfilling his big brother role.

Nick slowly opened the door and quietly crept inside, closing it behind him. "Warrick" he whispered as he edged closer to his friend. He gently tapped the older man's shoulder "Warrick!"

"Huh- what?" Warrick mumbled as he sat up and ran a hand down his face. "Nicky? Man what the hell are you doing out of bed?"

"I came to see Greg" Nick explained. "I just needed to see for myself that he was going to be alright" he looked at the young man, bandaged and bruised. There were little red patches still blossoming just a tad, but nothing serious, the burn marks on Greg's face however, were still masking his complexion.

"Well, I can't make you leave" Warrick mumbled.

"But I can make you" Nick said looking his friend in the eye with a small smile. "Go home, sleep, and get coffee. I want to stay with Greggo now"

"Alright, but you call me if there's any problems" Warrick said sternly and stood up to leave. Nick took the chair. "Wait" Warrick froze and turned around "I have to ask you something"

"What's that?" Nick asked.

"Greg said he… he wanted an SAE kit." Warrick uttered and Nick's face fell. "Do you know anything about that?"

"Yeah… Seth, he knocked me out and when I came to I saw him trying to…" Nick stopped and squeezed his eyes shut as he tried not to cry "I stopped Seth in time, I'm sure I did" he needed to believe this "I wouldn't let that happen to him" he said as he looked back at Greg and squeezed his hand.

"Alright" Warrick said with a smile. "I'll come back later with one… I just don't know if I can do it" Nick gave him a sympathetic smile, not really knowing what to say and Warrick left.

All of a sudden, Greg shifted in his sleep almost as if he had sensed the change is presence. "Warrick…" Nick just about understood the murmur. "Still there…"

"No Greggo it's me" Nick replied as he enveloped Greg's hand in his "It's Nick."

"Nick" Greg repeated as he forced his eyes to slowly open despite the exhaustion that was consuming his body. He may as well get all the sleep he could whilst he was doped up, because Greg knew once he was on his own, he wouldn't sleep. Greg cautiously rolled his head on the pillow and gave Nick a small smile. "I was worried…'bout you" the younger man whispered.

"Well you shouldn't be I'm fine" Nick said with tears in his eyes. He couldn't believe Greg had been so concerned given the young man himself was in a much worse condition. "It's my job to worry about you"

"No" Greg said shaking his head. "Shouldn't care about me" he mumbled.

"What?" Nick said with a confused look "Greggo, what are you talking about?"

"Shouldn't care…about a murderer" Greg said as his voice broke "I killed a man Nick, I killed a man" and the young lab tech broke down into bouts of tears.

Nick gently pulled Greg into a tight embrace and cradled him like a child. Greg continued to sob into Nick's chest and it was heart-breaking for the older man to hear.

"Greg you did the right thing okay. It was self-defence and you saved my life." Nick reassured him as he tried to hold back his own tears, needing to be strong for Greg right now.

"N-no you sa-saved me" Greg stuttered. "You should have let me die, Nick. You should have left me to die"

"No, no Greggo how could you even say that" Nick said holding onto Greg tighter still as he feared the young man might just slip away. "Greg you are my little brother and I love you and I could never leave you behind. I would never give up on you and I know you're still here because you didn't give up on me"

Greg managed to control his tears and pulled back a little sniffing. "I'm gunna be in so much trouble. I'll lose my job… they'll throw me in jail!"

"Hey, don't be absurd. I told you it was self-defence. Greg, that monster put us through hell and back, you more than me, he deserved this" Nick said sternly. "Every judge, and every jury in the world would see that, but it won't go that far I promise. And to be honest I'm kind of envious…" Greg gave him a perplexed look. "You had the guts to do something that I didn't, and I'm pretty sure Warrick would have done if he'd got to Seth first." Greg gave a small smile at this. "But don't let that get you down, you have nothing to be guilty for. That bastard and his cronies are gone, he can't hurt us anymore. We're safe now"

"Thanks Nick" Greg said with a small smile. "You always know what to say" and with that they hugged once more.

"We made it G" Nick whispered.

"We made it" Greg repeated. He just had to trust it.

* * *

"_Greggo…" a sleek voice drawled. It was not a friendly voice, he knew because only his close friends called him 'Greggo' yet it didn't suit the voice's tone. "Come on Greggo, wake up, we have another game to play." _The young man groaned in his sleep. "_That's it kid, come back to me" _Greg whimpered and turned away from the voice. "_Aww, does it hurt Greggo_?" _the voice asked with mock sympathy. "The lashes of the whip, do they hurt!" the voice cried. _

_Greg finally opened his eyes. He was breathing heavily and was once again chained to the wall in the gruesome room which reminded him of a prison cell. He still could not see the owner of the voice, but he didn't need to, he recognised the pure venom. _

"_No leave me alone!" Greg cried "Leave me alone please! I'm begging you!" he sobbed "I'm begging you."_

"_Oh boo hoo poor little lab techy scared out of his little mind" that was when Seth's figure emerged from the darkness. "But you killed me didn't you? Wrong! I'll never really leave you Greggo, I'll always be here. In your head" he said tapping the side of his own as he slowly began to walk forward "We're you're all alone" he smiled, the trade mark evil smile Greg wished he would never have to experience again. "Nicky can't save you now Greggo" he whispered as the young man struggled and strained with the chain. "No one can save you now!" Seth yelled._

"_No!" Greg cried as broke down into more heart wrenching sobs "No!"_

"No!" Greg shouted as he shot up in his bed, nearly head-butting Nick.

The older man had woken up to find Greg thrashing around and muttering to himself. The young man was sweating and his murmurs and pleas grew louder and louder. Nick was really scared by it all, even more so when he couldn't get Greg to wake up. The beeping of the young man's heart rate monitor was going faster and faster.

"Greggo calm down!" Nick pleaded as he pulled the young man into his arms, but Greg fought against him.

"No, no get off me!" the young man cried as he pushed Nick away.

"Greg it's me, it's Nick!" the Texan said trying to calm the young man down, but he backed off a little for Greg's sake. "Buddy, please calm down"

Then, two nurses ran into the room having heard Greg's heart rate monitor sky rocket "He's having a panic attack" one of them called as Greg started to convulse. Nick backed away to give them room and felt terrified. "Get ready to sedate him." The other nurse nodded and prepared a needle full of clear liquid.

The first nurse had to pin Greg down as the other one gently pushed the needle into the young man's forearm. Greg seemed to calm a little almost instantly, before he finally went limp in the bed.

"Sir what happened?" one of the nurses asked Nick as the other checked Greg was stable again.

"I- I don't know" Nick stuttered still feeling a little scared "He just, he had a nightmare I think and he started to freak"

"Alright, we'll be keeping a close eye on him for the next few hours" the nurse said with a sympathetic smile, and they both left the room.

Nick let out a shaky sigh and ran a hand down his face. "Don't do that to me again Greg" he muttered as he sat back down in the chair. He liked to think the young man could hear "Don't scare me like that ever. We will get through this together, I promise"

* * *

The next morning and Sara and Warrick were at the hospital. They were not surprised to find one of the young attending's freaking out because they thought they'd lost Nick and were going to be in big trouble. Sara had calmed the young man down by explaining they knew _exactly _were Nick was and there was nothing to worry about.

Warrick had his kit with him; it was the unfortunate time where they needed to take statements and process. He had not told Sara about the SAE kit for Greg, he knew it wold break her heart. The two arrived at Greg's room to find Nick sat at his bedside just as predicted. Nick was staring at Greg with distant eyes, like if he dared blink the young man would disappear. He had his hand encapsulated around Greg's and Greg seemed to be sleeping soundly.

The CSI's entered the room "Hey Nick" Sara spoke quietly not wanting to disturb Greg. "You doing okay?"

Nick shook his head. "Greg had a panic attack last night" he murmured.

Sara and Warrick's jaws dropped "Is he okay?" Sara asked.

"Yeah, he was fine after they sedated him. He had a really bad nightmare" Nick explained. Warrick sighed and closed his eyes, he'd been expecting this. "He's twenty four and he could have ended in a heart attack" the Texan's voice broke.

"Nick" Sara went forward and started to rub his shoulders. "Greg will be fine, he's fighting for us. But listen… we kind of need to talk to you both now" she added gently. "But we can take it as slow as you need."

"Okay" Nick whispered.

"Why don't you go with Sara and I'll stay with Greg?" Warrick subtly suggested. Nick nodded and let Sara gently guide him form the room. Warrick sighed and looked at Greg, who had started to come round after hearing various different voices. "Hey kid" Warrick spoke putting down his kit. "How you feeling?"

"Like hell" Greg croaked as he looked at the case on the floor "You got the test for me?" Warrick slowly nodded and then looked away. "I can do it myself you know" Greg said calmly, sensing Warrick's distress.

"If you don't mind" Warrick said quietly and Greg shook his head. The CSI had done plenty of tests like this, but not to one of his best friends.

Warrick handed Greg the stuff he needed and then left to give him some privacy, going to find Nick and Sara.

So far the female CSI had photographed Nick and was now taking a statement. Both Warrick and Sara listened in horrified awe to all the psychopathic things their two friends had been through. It hurt both of them.

"Listen, there's something I want to make _very_ clear to both of you." Nick said looking between his friends eyes, they both nodded. "_I _shot Seth."

* * *

Warrick had returned to Greg's room and taken the test off the shaking young man. He hadn't known what to say so he just patted the young man on the back and told him how proud he was for Greg pulling through. Sara and Nick then came back and Warrick left with the evidence.

"Listen Greg you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to" Sara instructed "Nick told me a lot. And he told me he shot Seth" Greg went wide eyed at this and stared at Nick. "And I'm glad" she said although she took hold of Greg's hand at this stage. She knew. But Greg was just happy she didn't say it.

Eventually Sara left too since they needed all the help they could get at the lab with Nick and Greg away.

"Why did you do that?" Greg asked after a few minutes of silence "Why did you take the wrap for me?"

"I'm a CSI, Greg. As much as it scares me I'm bound to kill someone sooner or later." Nick said solemnly. "I know I said everyone would understand, but it would still be safer if I take the blame."

"Thanks Nick" Greg whispered and he pulled the older man into a hug. This however, did not help to ease his guilt.

The two sat talking for hours about nothing in particular and it was great. For the first time they both felt they could break free of the events of the last week and just be there, best friends talking, brothers teasing. It felt almost normal again.

Later in the afternoon, Warrick returned and Greg visibly tensed. He had wanted to know, but now he wasn't so sure.

But then Warrick smiled "It came back negative" he said, and Greg started to cry with relief. That was at least one little piece of dignity he felt he had left.

"You're alright right Greggo" Nick said placing an arm around the young man's shoulder "You'll be alright"

"Yeah" Greg smiled for the both time in ages "yeah _we_ will be"


	20. Epilogue: 3 Months Later

**A/N: Wow. So here we have it, after nearly 4 months! That last little chapter to round things off. I can't thank you all enough for the support you've given me for this story, my most reviews/ and alerts, you've made me one happy little writer :) Thank you so, so, so much times infinity for everyone who has followed/ favourited/ reviewed or even just read this story. It makes me feel so good that 4 months late you're still here XD**

**For one last time… Please Review :) xx**

* * *

**Epilogue: 3 Months Later**

It started out with Greg not being able to sleep when he got home, but then again Nick couldn't either. They had very slowly started to become roommates as Greg often stayed over in Nick's spare bedroom. That way, Nick could keep a close eye on his friend as Greg would still wake up in a cold sweat sometimes after a nightmare. Nick would always be there to comfort him. What the older man didn't realise was that Greg would also hear Nick moaning in his sleep sometimes. The young man would go sit with him until he settled again, but Nick didn't know, he never woke. _He could sleep through a hurricane_ Greg thought.

The deep knife cuts on Nick's face had faded into faint white scars, but they would go eventually along with the bruises he had attained from Grant's beating. His ribs were a lot better, but it still hurt a little to move sometimes.

As for Greg, the majority of bruises had faded, but the burn marks had not. The ones on his temple and cheek made him sick to look at and he feared they were permanent, but the Doctor assured him they would heal over time. As for the whip marks on his back…they _were _permanent scarsand he had cried for hours after finding out, but Nick had been there for him like always.

Nick had been back at work for two months now, Greg for one. It was hard for them to get back into the swing of things. Nick had refused to do any solo cases for his first month back, he felt a bit pathetic for it but the other's didn't mind. Greg would remain hidden in his lab for most of the day, it was safe in there. The world couldn't get to him in there.

Catherine had been more acting motherly than usual, often warning the pair to not work themselves too hard. She'd even yelled quite harshly at Ecklie for trying to get Greg to work overtime.

Grissom treated them as normal, as if nothing had ever happened, but he believed that was the best way forward. Although, he would admit that whenever he was at a crime scene with Nick, he would often sneak quick glances over his shoulder to check the younger man was doing okay.

Sara had been hanging around the DNA lab a lot more often when she was on a break, and Greg really appreciated it, as did Nick when the female CSI would handle the difficult suspects for him.

Warrick had just made a silent oath to himself he would never let anything like this happen to his brothers again. He was acting way more overprotective than he needed too, but Greg and Nick knew it made him feel better, so they let him.

One morning and Nick and Greg were at the diner with Sara and Catherine. The female CSI's had been fretting that the boys hadn't been eating properly and therefore forced them out for meals on most days. Nick and Greg didn't mind however, since neither of them could particularly cook.

They were sat idly chatting as they waited for their food when the news report came on the TV.

"_In other news hit man for hire Marshall Rodriguez was given his final sentencing today". _

Greg went wide eyed and tensed as the mention of their torturer. Catherine, who sat next him, placed an arm around his shoulder and pulled him close. Sara, sat next to Nick, placed her hand gently on the Texan's as he watched the report intently.

"_Three months ago Rodriguez was one of three men involved in the murder of Eric Dawson and his children Emma and Craig. Rodriguez then became involved in the kidnapping of two members of the Las Vegas Crime lab." _

Greg turned away from the TV and buried his head in Catherine's shoulder. Nick looked at his young friend sympathetically. At least they hadn't said their names.

"_Despite trying to plead insanity and being forced to confess via police brutality, Rodriguez has been charged with life imprisonment."_

The rest of the report faded out after that as the CSI's sat in a bittersweet silence.

"Bastard should have got the chair" Sara muttered, much to everyone else's surprise.

"Well it's all over now" Catherine said reassuringly as Greg rolled his head on her shoulder so he could face Nick and Sara too. "For good"

"Yeah, Greg we've come so far these past months" Nick said to the younger man "and you know they say the road to recovery is a long one, but we'll get to the end."

And then Greg smiled. "That's such a Grissom thing to say, you totally stole that" Catherine and Sara laughed.

"Hey! Are you saying I can't think up of smart thinks to say all by myself?" Nick asked in mock offence.

"No, you're just a kiss ass" Catherine said.

"I am not!" Nick protested.

And then a light mocking of each other ensued. Greg laughed, a lot; it felt like ages since he'd been able to do that. But for the first time in 3 months he could forget about the scars on his back, and just spend time joking around with the people he loved most in the world.

* * *

**I would like to apologise for the OCness of characters in this story, I try my best to stop it from happening but it naturally does. So sorry for that :)**

**I will be back! I have several other ideas for various new multi chapters' stories. But for now, I have my A-level exams to do, so I won't be posting a new story til June. However, I will update my 'One Shot Collection' and 'The Rules of Engagement' when I'm having a break ;)**

**So yeah, thank you again and again… and again XD**

**Love ya! – Lil Badger 101 xx **


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